Free Life
by fake a smile
Summary: Sequel to Taking Control. Harry starts taking the fight to the Death Eaters as the Order members are forced to make some very difficult decisions. Will Dumbledore see the benefit of working with Harry or continue to try to keep him out of the war?
1. Cartography

**A/N:** It's been a long time coming, but here it is, the first chapter of Free Life, sequel to Taking Control. I'd like to thank everyone who has stuck with me throughout TC and in the wait for Free Life. I hope you all continue to enjoy the story. And a huge thank you goes out to Maggie and Christine for all their assistance.

A quick note to all those interested: I launched a website about a couple months back to host my stories. This will be the first place I post all updates and the best source for news on future updates. I will be posting all chapters on my site a week in advance of all fanfiction sites, so if you want to read it as soon as it becomes available, you should check out www [dot] mvsfiction [dot] com. Without further ado, I give you…

**Chapter 1:**** Cartography**

"I wasn't sure you'd show."

A small smile formed on Harry's lips as he walked fully into the room. "And yet you still waited for me."

"It's not as if I have any other plans," he replied heavily.

The smile slipped off the young man's face as he nodded.

Remus sighed tiredly. "Thank you."

Harry shrugged and said, "You shouldn't go through it alone."

"I truly appreciate your presence, Harry, but the more time you spend outside the Fidelius, the better the chances that Dumbledore or someone else catches up to you." Indeed, the thought worried Remus more than he had expected. Voldemort was a constant dread, but to actually fear Dumbledore finding Harry was not an emotion Remus could have anticipated feeling. Yet there was no doubt in his mind that should that happen, the results would likely be catastrophic – for Harry, Dumbledore, the war, _everything_.

"You worry too much, Remus." Spreading his arms out wide, Harry explained, "I renew the anti-tracking charms every day. I don't use a wand. If he manages to find me, then he'll have damn well earned it. Not that I'll go along with him quietly."

"It's exactly that kind of attitude that will get you caught," Remus gruffly rebuked him. "Don't get over-confident, and don't take unnecessary risks."

"I'm not going to bollix things up now, Remus," Harry retorted. "I'm not being over-confident. I'm taking every precaution I can think to take, but I'm not just going to hide away in a hole. That would rather defeat the whole point of this. I've been fighting for my freedom, not just a place to crash over the summer away from the Dursleys."

Remus stared straight at Harry for a long moment without really seeing him. He finally flicked his gaze to meet Harry's eyes and nodded. "You're right." What worried Remus was that he could somehow be the cause of Harry's loss of freedom. If Dumbledore even suspected that he might have sided with Harry, it would not be difficult for the headmaster to use him to lead him straight to Harry. As loathe as he was to admit it, Harry was much better prepared for this espionage business than he. The Marauders had been experts at sneaking around Hogwarts, but, outside those castle walls in open defiance of Dumbledore and Voldemort, it was a whole different game.

"How have the Order reacted to my disappearance?"

He was jarred abruptly out of his thoughts by Harry's voice, and it took him several seconds for the question to even register in his mind and even longer to respond. "The reactions have been mixed, I'd say," he speculated aloud. "There are some who reacted quite poorly and all but demanded that every resource be used in finding you and bringing you to safety. I'm sure you can imagine that Molly Weasley was quite vocal in this stance. Given…" A wave of pain suddenly erupted throughout this body, causing him to groan loudly. Stifling the pain he panted, "Transform, Harry."

He did not even see if Harry heeded his command as his eyes clenched tightly shut against the pain. The wolf flared to life. As his consciousness began to fade, the potion quickly kicked in. He fought for dominance, suppressing the beast within him. The pain reached nearly unbearable heights before the transformation completed, and the sensation abruptly halted. If there was one positive thing about the wolf, it was that it did not feel the lingering soreness from the transformation that he felt in his human body. It was a small consolation.

As his eyes opened, he found himself staring into the green eyes of a black panther.

_All right, Remus?_ Harry asked.

_Yeah__,_ Remus responded. _Fine. _As if to prove his point, Remus pounced forward attempting to pin Harry, but the panther reacted quickly and leapt out of his reach, beginning a game of cat and mouse – or rather one of wolf and cat.

When they finally settled down, Remus curled up on the opposite side of the room, facing Harry. He rarely slept on a full moon, and when he did it was not restful. Instead, he used the time when Harry – and Ginny, when she was here – slept for quiet reflection. At the moment he wondered how the couple would fare over two months of separation. It would be all but impossible for them to see each other. Even a hint of Harry at the Burrow would set Molly Weasley off. She saw Harry as her seventh son, and she was nothing if not protective – stiflingly so.

As his mind wandered, he could not help but notice Harry's restless movements. It was not the thrashing that accompanied a vision. It was more akin to the tossing and turning one experiences when trying futilely to fall asleep. Frowning to himself, he reached out with his mind and asked, _Trouble sleeping?_

If Harry was surprised at the sudden question, he did not show it. Without lifting his head, Harry's reply floated back. _Yeah, can't fall asleep. You?_

_About the same_, he hedged, unwilling to admit that this was normal for him.

Harry stood up on all fours suddenly and silently padded towards him before stopping and lying down facing him a short distance away. _So how are things going with Tonks?_

Surprised at the sudden question, he took a long moment to respond. _Fairly well. I – _he paused, considering his words – _I actually wanted to speak to you on her behalf._ Harry perked up slightly as he continued, _She was rather hurt to find out that I knew of your identity as Jim without telling her._

_I'm sorry,_ Harry interjected. _I didn't mean to create trouble for you.._

_It'__s all right, Harry,_ he replied. _She understands that they were not my secrets to share; however, I think you will find that she would be willing to keep your secrets and help you where she can, if you'll allow her._

Harry was quiet for a long moment, forcing Remus to ponder what was going through the teen's mind. _I've always liked Tonks,_ he finally stated. _I guess I never really considered trying to tell __**more**__ people. Ever since last summer, I've tried to keep everything secret from everyone. But now with things coming out into the open – well, the old way won't work anymore, will it?_

He sensed that Harry needed to talk out this new idea and decided to keep his own counsel for the moment. Harry spoke again a moment later. _Do you think you could arrange a meeting with Tonks?_

Remus nodded, _I should think so. She can be rather busy with both Auror and Order duties, but I'm rather confident she'll make the time for it. The only question is where._

_How about we meet in the Muggle world? _

_Did you have someplace in mind?_ Remus immediately asked. He was much more acclimated to Muggle life than most witches and wizards. Given the restrictions placed on werewolves, he had more than once been forced to turn to the Muggle world to find gainful employment. Even then he was always hard-pressed to explain away his monthly absences. Still, even a few months of steady employment was not something he could easily pass up.

_Well, it's often easiest to hide in plain sight,_ Harry replied after a moment's thought. _How about Hyde Park?_

Remus nodded, answering, _That should work. I'll let you know when we're available._

_Okay,_ Harry replied. _Just drop by the house to let me know when to meet you, or leave me a note if I'm not there. No owls but Hedwig will be able to find me._

Remus nodded his agreement. _You should try to get some sleep, Harry. _Harry just stared idly at him for a long moment before turning to wander back to the other side of the room. As Harry curled up on his side and laid his head down, Remus was left to the solitude of his thoughts.

OoOoO

He arrived back in his home the next morning to the sound of loud beeping. Cursing harshly, Harry rushed into his living room and stopped in front of a large scroll stuck to the wall showing a map of the UK. His eyes immediately focused on the blinking dot in the centre of the map. Burning its location into his mind, Harry quickly retrieved a bottle of Invigoration Draught, silently thanking Merlin he had had the foresight to brew a batch of it the day before. After dispelling the alarm on the map, he downed a single dose quickly and Disapparated.

It took a moment to gain his bearings after reappearing. He had spent the better part of his first few days of holiday visiting each location and determining the best place to Apparate in should the need arise. He transformed into his owl form and took to the air. As soon as he rose above the tree line he could see the house. At least he got the location right. He had spent hours reviewing his memory of each location to ensure he would not confuse them.

Harry pumped his wings to gain altitude and soared towards the already damaged house. There was no sign of the Dark Mark yet, which likely meant the Death Eaters were still inside – probably wondering where their prey disappeared to. As he circled the house, he found an open window on the second floor and swooped in. He could hear voices – at least three – shouting back and forth to each other as Harry reverted back to human form. He cast a Disillusionment charm on himself and silently made his way right in front of the open doorway. He stood stock still with one arm slightly extended and listened to the footsteps in the hallway.

A moment later, a dark robed figure stepped in front of the doorway. Without moving a muscle, Harry sent a Stunner through his outstretched hand. The Death Eater was unconscious before he had time to react to the sudden burst of red light that had materialized directly in front of him. Before the body could hit the ground, Harry caught it with a levitation charm and quickly directed it into the room. He laid the body down in the corner and bound it. He summoned the man's wand and, not wanting to risk making a sound snapping it, simply Vanished it altogether. Keeping one eye on the open doorway, Harry spent the next few minutes erecting a temporary anti-Portkey ward over the corner of the room.

By the time he had finished the ward, the other voices were calling for Jugson, who Harry assumed was the unconscious man at his feet. Glancing out the window, he could see that two Death Eaters were making their way outside, but it sounded like there was one person left in the house calling for the last Death Eater. Making a quick decision, Harry padded out into the hallway as he heard footsteps begin to ascend the stairs.

"Jugson! Come on, we need to get out of here," the robed figure called as he stepped onto the second floor. Harry waited until the man had taken a few more steps before striking. The Death Eater noticed the light a split second before it hit him and had just enough time to yell, "Shite!" before falling victim to the Stunner. After Summoning and Vanishing the man's wand, Harry quickly bound and levitated him into the room and onto the other body in the corner as he heard two sets of footsteps rush into the house.

Harry made his way back into the hallway as the two began bickering back and forth over whether to look for their missing companions or leave them behind. Not wanting to let them get away, Harry quickened his stride. At the top of the stairs, he could see them standing in the foyer looking up the stairs. One of them must have caught some ripple of movement for he aimed his wand directly at Harry and yelled, "_Avada Kedavra_!"

Harry ducked and rolled out of the way of the green light as it hit the wall behind him and caused splintered wood and debris to explode outward. He could not see them from his position on the ground as one asked, "Did you get him?"

"What do you think?" the other asked bitingly. "Do walls usually explode when you hit a person?"

Clearly these were not the most experienced Death Eaters in Voldemort's ranks. Harry jumped back onto his feet and began raining spells on the two of them. Both Death Eaters went on the defensive as they shielded themselves from Harry's attack. Seeing that this strategy would not grant him anything but a stalemate, Harry leapt over the banister and transformed into his panther form. He landed on the stairs and lunged at one of the Death Eaters, cancelling his Disillusionment Charm in mid-air. The man staggered back a step as Harry tackled him into the wall.

Reverting back to human form, Harry Stunned the man underneath him as he aimed his other hand at the second Death Eater and unleashed another Stunner. The man was too shocked to even attempt to block it. Harry gingerly rose to his feet and levitated both bodies up the stairs, depositing them in the same warded corner as the others. After making a quick sweep through the house to ensure no others were left behind, Harry exited the house through the opening where there once stood a front door.

Just as he stepped outside, a small pop sounded and Harry looked over to see Albus Dumbledore had appeared a mere fifteen metres away. His eyes widened at seeing Harry there, and Harry was surprised at the sudden ache that developed at the sight of his former mentor. He had not allowed himself to dwell on the manner in which they had parted and knew now was not the time to do so. "There are four of them bound and unconscious upstairs." That was all Harry said before Apparating back to his house. "This is going to be a long summer," Harry muttered to himself.

OoOoO

After the Invigoration Draught left his system, Harry crashed hard. All his energy vanished, and he simply collapsed onto his sofa into a fitful slumber. He broke a personal record for the summer with a whopping three straight hours of sleep.

Rising tiredly, Harry sat on the sofa with his head in his hands for a long moment before his mind completely awakened. He hardly felt refreshed but knew that no more sleep would be forthcoming. If this endured, he would need to set about brewing up a mild sleeping potion. He would not be able to rely on the potion in the long term, but perhaps it could help him get through this spell until he found another solution.

Standing and stretching, Harry's thoughts drifted to his displaced student, a fourth year in the BHA. His instincts had been proven correct. Less than a week into the break and already one of his students was attacked. He hoped nobody in his family was injured prior to their escape and wished there was some way for him to check up on them without giving himself over to Dumbledore. At least he knew that nobody was left behind. He had no doubt that Madame Pomfrey would set any injured to rights in no time at all.

He could not help but wonder what Voldemort and the headmaster were making of this latest development. The former would likely be wondering what could possibly have gone wrong, ready to punish those that had failed him and those that had gotten in his way and, in both of their absences, anyone unfortunate enough to be in his presence. Dumbledore, on the other hand – what must he be thinking? A student and his family show up at Hogwarts claiming their home was under attack from Death Eaters. He arrives at the house to find none other than Harry at the scene, Death Eaters already subdued.

He could not help the amused grin that tugged at his lips as he wondered whether or not the headmaster would get any answers on just how the family had arrived at the castle. His contract should still prevent the students from talking about it, but that contract only covered so much. Dumbledore would quickly learn it was a Portkey, and from there he would assuredly deduce Harry's involvement.

Shaking his head of such thoughts, Harry glanced out the window, taking in the colours in the sky created by the setting sun. Deciding to take advantage of what little daylight was left, he changed into a pair of shorts and t-shirt and walked out the front door. Making sure to reinforce the charm on his person preventing tracking magic outside the wards of his home, he set off at a jog.

He always wondered at the magic of the Fidelius Charm at a time such as this – when someone was leaving the boundary of the charm. There was little about the theory behind the charm in the book he had read, but there must be some obscuration or befuddlement element to it for no one to notice him suddenly materializing from or disappearing into nothingness. He determined to try to learn more about it if the opportunity ever presented itself. Perhaps if he and Dumbledore ever worked out their differences, the headmaster would be willing to share his knowledge or access to his library for Harry to sate his curiosity.

He kept a steady, brisk pace as he jogged along the sidewalk to the nearby park. This was one of Harry's favourite things about his new home, this park offering several kilometres of trails. There was something altogether relaxing about the natural feel of it all – a little haven separated from civilization. Granted, the trails took him by a couple play parks that brought that civilization back, but somehow Harry could not bring himself to mind the joyfully playing children.

He followed the trail as it looped around and eventually brought him back to his starting point. Harry walked the short distance to his home, allowing his muscles the opportunity to cool down without stiffening up on him. The sun had already finished setting and darkness descended as Harry stretched on his front lawn before retreating back into his house.

Following a quick shower, Harry dressed and walked into his living room, musing over what to do with his evening. Sleep was out of the question, having only recently risen. If he was honest with himself, he knew precisely what he wanted to do; it was simply not the most prudent action he could take. The truth was that he missed Ginny and wanted nothing more than to go to the Burrow to see her.

It would be risky, but he had managed it before. Had he not snuck into the Burrow last summer as an owl? What was to stop him from doing so again? Smirking at the thought, Harry Disapparated and reappeared in the forest surrounding the Weasley home – well outside the wards. Transforming into an owl, Harry took to the sky and soared towards the lopsided house. Just the sight of it was enough to elicit a smile. In the short time he had been there, Harry had come to love his home, but it could not compare to the Burrow. Having grown with the Weasley family, it held a warmth and charm that his newly-acquired home could not hope to match – at least not any time in the near future. He hoped that someday his own home would hold even half as much character.

Shaking himself from his musings, he winged his way to the correct window and peered inside. There she was, sitting at her small vanity running a comb through her hair. It was hard to believe it had been only a few days since he last saw her. He had not even been given the chance to say goodbye, Dumbledore's actions having forced him into a hasty retreat. Though perhaps that was a gift in disguise, for saying goodbye might have been that much more difficult.

He softly pecked his beak at the window causing her to startle and look towards him. Her eyes widened right before her smile, and she rushed over and threw open the window. Harry did not waste a moment as he flew inside and reverted back to his normal form. He was immediately encircled in her arms, and he squeezed Ginny against him tightly, breathing in deeply the scent of her hair. "I missed you," he whispered.

"I missed you too," she whispered back as they separated from their embrace. She took his hand and opened her mouth to speak, but he held up a hand to stop her.

Turning towards the door, Harry cast a one-way Silencing Charm to prevent any sounds within the room from escaping. Turning back to Ginny he said, "All right. We can talk now."

"How have you been? What have you been up to?" she immediately questioned as she led him towards her bed.

They sat down side by side, Harry holding her hand in his lap, and he told her everything about his last few days, including a more in-depth account of his last meeting with the headmaster than the hastily written letter he had given Hedwig to deliver to her on the Hogwarts Express, assuming that any correspondence she received at the Burrow would be monitored.

"Dumbledore has been by a couple times asking if we had heard any word from you," Ginny stated following his story. "He's starting to become a little frantic, I think," she admitted. "If he saw you at the scene of an attack earlier today, he's bound to be even worse."

"Has he been giving you trouble?" Harry asked in concern.

Ginny shrugged. "I think he's figured out that I know more than I let on, but he hasn't been too bad. He's been trying to convince me of the danger you are in and how telling him where you are would be the best thing for you and how you would come to understand that in time." She rolled her eyes. "Honestly, how gullible does he think I am? If he can't find you, why should I be worried about Voldemort finding you?"

Harry smiled. "Let me know if he starts to give you too much trouble, okay? I don't want you suffering on my account."

She gave him a mock stern glare. "I think I can handle myself just fine, thank you."

"Of course you can," Harry agreed, leaning in to plant a kiss on her cheek. "But I don't want him to cause you any trouble on my account."

"Don't be silly," she replied. "I can deal with him stopping by to ask questions every few days if that's what it takes to give you a bit of freedom. Now, I am going to the loo, and you are going to get ready for bed." Harry opened his mouth to argue, but she beat him to it. "I don't want to hear it. You're not sleeping, and I'll not stand for it. If your arse is not in this bed ready for sleep by the time I get back, you will regret it."

"Yes ma'am," he responded with a smirk.

"That's better," she said, stealing a quick kiss before rising and heading towards the door. She turned back, winked at him, then ducked out the door.

Harry, not wanting to tempt Ginny to follow through on her threat, decided he had best get ready for bed. Some quick transfiguration work set his clothes to something more comfortable for sleep, and he lay back on her bed atop her covers, staring unseeingly at the ceiling. Turning over onto his side, he buried his nose into her pillow inhaling a scent that was distinctly Ginny. He closed his eyes and let out a sigh of contentment and drifted off to sleep.

OoOoO

"Ginny?"

The voice barely registered into her sleep-filled mind as she snuggled closer into the warm pillow, hugging it tightly to her body and rubbing her cheek into it peacefully.

"Ginny?" it called again even as her pillow struggled to extricate itself from her grip. That was about when her brain finally awoke and recognized the precarious position she found herself in with her mother outside her door.

"Yes, Mum?" Ginny called in return, trying to sound more awake than she felt, hoping it would prevent her mum from opening the door.

"Ginny," her mum continued as though Ginny had not spoken. The sound of a hand on the door knob immediately followed.

She sprang into an upright position and turned panicked eyes towards Harry, finding that he was already fading from sight. She hazily caught a motion as his hand swept towards the door, and somehow she knew he had cast a spell. That was when she remembered the one-way silencing spell he had placed on the door the night before.

"Ginny, dear?" her mum said, and Ginny turned her head quickly to find her mum poking her head just inside the door.

"Yes, Mum?" she responded, injecting a bit of grogginess into her voice.

"It's past eight," her mum stated. "I've saved a plate for you downstairs."

"Oh," Ginny answered dazedly as she realized that Harry was no longer in the bed beside her. "All right. I'll be down in a few minutes."

"Are you feeling all right, dear?" her mum asked in concern, opening the door completely and stepping into the room.

"I'm fine," Ginny replied. "Just slept in I guess."

"If you're sure," her mum said, pausing to give her a chance to change her mind. She left a moment later, shutting the door behind her. As her steps trailed off down the stairs, Ginny let out a sigh of relief echoed immediately by Harry.

"That was close," she murmured and jumped as Harry suddenly dropped back onto the bed at her side.

"Sorry," he said softly as his body slowly reappeared. "I was worried she might notice me on the bed even with the Disillusionment Charm."

She shook her head. "Don't worry about it; you only startled me, is all. How did you sleep?"

When he paused in his reply, she frowned, but it quickly turned to a smile as he replied, "Good - great, actually." He smiled in return and pulled her tightly to him. Leaning his head down, he kissed her, and she soon lost herself in that kiss. A long moment later their lips finally broke apart, leaving them both breathing quite heavily. She revelled in the way Harry held her close and inhaled deeply. "Thank you," he finally whispered. "I really needed that, even if I didn't want to admit it last night."

She pulled back and looked him in the eye. "You're welcome," she said, caressing his face with one hand before adopting a stern expression. "Now I expect you back here if you keep having trouble."

He smirked at her and agreed with a cheeky, "Yes ma'am." The smile quickly faded from his lips, though, and with a deep sigh Harry looked her in the eye and said, "I need to go before your mum comes back."

"I know," she replied. She hugged him tightly once more and gave him a brief, fierce kiss. "I love you," she said. "Be careful."

"I love you too," he said, giving her one last squeeze as he whispered, "Goodbye." He rolled out of bed, trailing his fingers down her arm and allowing them to linger briefly as he reached her hand, giving her a long glance before turning towards the window. She watched as he undid the latch and transformed into the beautiful, black owl she had first met in this very room almost a year ago.

He fluttered onto the windowsill and craned his head back for one last look. She smiled weakly and gave a half-wave as he turned back and launched himself out the window. She stood and stared out the window until he disappeared into the tree line. She sighed and grabbed a dressing gown before leaving the room and descending into the kitchen. She sat across from Ron who barely acknowledged her arrival with a grunt as he devoured the contents of his plate.

Ginny murmured her thanks as her mum set a plate in front of her, and she began eating in silence which was not broken until she was halfway through her meal. "How come you slept in so late?"

She looked up and found Ron staring speculatively at her, his plate empty. Her mum had left a few minutes earlier leaving the two of them alone in the kitchen. She shrugged her shoulders and said, "I sleep in all the time."

"In the past, yeah," Ron assented. "But not this year."

She simply raised an eyebrow in response as she lifted a forkful of eggs to her mouth.

"You've been running with Harry for months," he added.

"Harry's not here," she responded curtly.

"Hasn't stopped you before today," he continued, ignoring the warning in her tone.

She had no idea what he was driving at, but he was very quickly getting on her nerves. "Why don't you just come out and say whatever it is you want to say before I hex your bits off."

"I heard Mum and Dad talking last night," Ron responded calmly. "Dumbledore seems to think you might know where Harry is or that he may try to contact you."

She tried desperately to figure out what that had to do with her lie in this morning – unless he somehow knew – but there was no way. Was there? "Okay," she stated in confusion.

"Just thought you should know," Ron replied. "I don't really know what's going on, but I figure you probably have a better idea than anyone. If you're not worried about Harry, I reckon he's all right, wherever he is. Probably better off than with those Muggles." She did not need to know Ron well to hear the contempt in his voice at the mention of Harry's relatives. "But it sounds as if they're getting pretty desperate to find him."

"Thanks, Ron," she replied, not sure what else to say.

He shrugged his shoulders. "S'okay." He glanced around briefly before dropping his voice to a whisper. "He is all right, isn't he?"

Ginny nodded hesitantly in reply.

"Right," he said, standing from the table. Ginny stared after him, her eyes lingering on the stairs for a long moment even after he had disappeared from sight. Finally, she shook herself from her stupor and finished her breakfast wondering just what was going on with her brother.

OoOoO

As Harry arrived home, he was relieved to find that the alarm had not been triggered again. At that moment he had a sudden revelation and determined to spend some time later creating some sort of mobile alarm. That way he would not miss an alarm if he was out of the house. He began thinking over how to accomplish it as he changed his clothes and set out for another jog. He was not even halfway through his run before deciding a simple Protean Charm on the alarm would allow him to link it to another item that he could take with him whenever he left the house.

The worst part about the summer break, he decided as he finished his jog, was not having access to the Room of Requirement. He had grown accustomed to the luxuries it provided – namely the space, privacy, and training dummies. He needed to find some substitute to assist in his training over the summer before the lack of training dulled his abilities and instincts. In the meantime he would simply ensure his body remained in peak form.

After washing up from his exercise, Harry set to work on creating his mobile alarm. Deciding to keep things simple, Harry chose to use the cord from his own Portkey necklace as the base for his mobile alarm. With a slight alteration, Harry set it to heat up whenever the alarm went off. It took a bit of experimentation, but he was able to get it at a temperature he was sure to notice without actually burning his skin.

With that finished Harry decided it was past time to pay a visit to Fred and George. He needed to find out just how serious they had been in their commitment to joining the war effort. It took him several minutes in front of the mirror toying with various glamours until he found an appearance he could live with that resembled neither himself nor Jim.

Fingering his necklace cord, Harry gave one last look in the mirror before Apparating into Diagon Alley. The scene before him gave Harry great pause. It was so unlike what he had come to expect from this busy centre of wizarding life. The street was practically empty; only a handful of shoppers dotted the Alley, their heads down as if lack of eye contact might provide some shield should they suddenly be attacked. What struck him most, though, was the oppressive silence hanging over the Alley. Every sound seemed muted yet also amplified by the silence.

Harry physically shook himself out of his musings and stepped forward, his feet carrying him purposefully towards his destination. He kept his head up and forward, but his eyes and magical sense scanned the street for anything abnormal. There was plenty of ambient magic in the area, but life at Hogwarts had taught him how to block out the excess sensations and focus on what he needed. He made it to the twins' shop without incident. It, like the rest of Diagon Alley, was empty, not a single customer inside. In one sense Harry was relieved; a lack of witnesses would make his visit much easier. On the other hand, he could not help but feel a pang of sympathy on how the current state of affairs must be affecting the business of the twins. He had not paid particular attention to the statements he had been receiving from them on the profits of the shop, but he imagined they were only a fraction of what they had been when the store first opened.

"Hello, sir," a pretty brunette witch said with a slightly forced smile. "Can I help you with something?"

"I hope so," Harry replied. "I was wondering if you might tell me where I could find Fred and George Weasley, the owners."

"Might I ask what business you have with them?" she inquired in a guarded tone.

Harry quirked an eyebrow at her, pondering the question. What could he tell this girl that would facilitate her giving him the information he needed? He was saved the trouble, however, when one of the aforementioned twins entered the shop from a back room. "Oi, a customer," he called out happily as he approached them. "Fred Weasley's the name, and welcome to our fine establishment. I see you've met the lovely Cameron. She can no doubt assist you in any of your pranking needs. Quite the devious mind this one has," he praised with a flirtatious wink at the girl, who blushed at the compliment.

Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Oh, I have no doubt of that whatsoever," Harry replied. "However, I am not here for any pranking needs. Rather, I'm here to speak with you and your twin about a proposition we had discussed a short time ago."

"Proposition?" he questioned cluelessly. "I don't remember discussing any propositions with anyone."

"Come now," Harry admonished. "I know I don't come around often, but you don't mean to tell me you've forgotten your silent partner, do you?" Fred's eyes bulged and mouth dropped open. "Ah, I see your memory is returning to you," Harry said with a chuckle. "Spiffing."

"Silent partner?" the woman, Cameron, questioned. "I didn't know you guys had another partner."

"Hence the silent part," Fred quickly inserted. "He's the shy type, doesn't like the limelight."

She gave Harry a scrutinizing look. "Seems pretty confident to me."

"Don't confuse confidence with a thirst to be the centre of attention like these clowns," Harry stated, gesturing at Fred. "I simply prefer to remain, as Fred put it, out of the limelight."

"Fair enough," she said. "I suppose you won't be needing my help then?"

"No," Fred piped up. "I'll just take…" he paused and glanced at Harry quickly before continuing, "my friend here into the back. You'll be all right out here?"

She very pointedly cast her eyes around the empty store before turning her gaze back to Fred. "I think I can manage."

Fred suddenly looked a lot less sure of himself. "Right then. We'll be in the back if you need anything."

As they walked into the back room, which was actually a corridor, Harry casually commented, "Seems like business is hurting these days."

Fred nodded solemnly. "Ever since the attack on the Alley a month or so back…" He left the statement hanging in the air.

"I figured as much," Harry said. "I can't say I'm surprised, to be honest. A lot of damage was done that day, and that was even with forewarning. Imagine what would have happened had we had no clue about it beforehand."

"Wait," Fred said, stopping in his tracks. "You knew about the attack beforehand?"

Harry brought his hand up to his forehead and tapped his scar. Fred's eyes widened. "I informed the Order and came in disguise to help."

"We tried to help as well," Fred stated. "We spent most of it herding people into the shop to Floo out. By the time we got out most of the fighting was over."

Harry nodded. "The most important thing was getting people to safety. You guys did the right thing."

"Who did what right thing?" George asked as he stepped out of a door a few paces beyond Fred. "And who're you?"

"You two did in helping people Floo out of the Alley during the attack," Harry stated. "And I'm the one who's going to whip you two plonkers into shape. That is, if you haven't changed your minds."

George looked at him funnily for just a moment before asking, "Harry?"

Both he and Fred nodded. "We were wondering if you were ever going to stop by," George said with a grin. "We didn't exactly know how to get hold of you, what with the disappearing act and all."

"Had to get settled in," Harry replied. "Have you guys hired people to take over making your stock?"

"Of course, oh fearless leader," Fred chorused while clapping Harry on the shoulder.

"Just finished training him," George inserted.

"Only need one for the moment, what with business in the shop down."

"But at least owl orders are still going strong."

Harry nodded. "That's good. We only have two months to get you two up to snuff, so we need to get started right away." The two exchanged smiles as Harry continued. "Now all we have to do is find a place to do it."

"Not to worry, Harrykins," George stated.

"Yeah, we've got just the place for it," Fred added.

"Right through here, in fact," George finished, turning aside to the door he had emerged out of and pushing it open. Harry followed him in.

"We had a feeling we'd need to provide the venue," Fred informed him from behind.

The room was not large but big enough for their purposes and was completely barren. "I suppose this will do. Have the walls been spell-proofed?"

Both twins nodded. "Had that done right when we moved in," Fred told him.

"Sometimes our experiments go bad," George said with a half smile.

"Best to be prepared."

"Right," Harry agreed. "Well, are you two ready for lesson one?"

Two large grins gave him all the answer he needed. Without any more warning than that, Harry attacked. Fred was completely unprepared and slumped to the ground unconscious from his Stunner. George, fumbling to pull out his wand, barely raised a shield in time to block Harry's second Stunner, but it was not strong enough to stop the third.

Two quick _Rennervates_ later had the twins slowly climbing back to their feet. "I guess you can call that lesson one…." He did not get to finish what he was saying as the two simultaneously tried to Stun him.

Harry rolled out of the way of both spells and immediately popped back to his feet with a hand trained on each of the twins. "Right. Always be on your toes," Harry stated as he eyed the two warily. "Second, stop waiting to see if your first attack worked before sending the next. Better if you send three spells and only one hits than if you send one and it doesn't. Now, here's what I have in mind…"

Harry used a lot of the same exercises he had put the HA through during the school year to test the twins to see where their strengths were and where they needed improvement. They were quite receptive to his advice on dodging, though they seemed a little too willing to leave their feet. He would need to work with them on how to roll into their landings and using their momentum to carry them back to their feet again. They also needed quite a bit of work on speed and endurance, both physically and magically.

There was one area where they could probably teach him a trick or two, and that was in the creativity of their spell casting. Harry usually kept things simple, sticking with his best spells, but Fred and George rarely used the same spell twice. Harry had never even heard of half the spells they used. Many were not conventionally used in a fight, but those two had creative uses for everything.

He was so involved in the training that it took a moment for him to realize what the sudden heat around his neck meant. He quickly called the twins to a halt and said, "I've got to go. I'll stop by again soon."

Without waiting for a reply, Harry activated his Portkey which deposited him in his home, right in front of the map. He cancelled the alarm as his eyes roved over the canvas, locking onto two flashing names practically on top of each other, Harry stopped a moment to recall the location before Disapparating and reappearing in an alley of a Muggle neighbourhood. Looking around, Harry confirmed that nobody had witnessed his sudden appearance before transforming into his owl form and taking flight.

He flapped hard to gain altitude and circled the house, inwardly cursing upon finding all of the windows closed and most of the shades drawn. The front door had been blasted down, however, so Harry landed behind a bush in the front yard and reverted back into his human form. He could feel no magical presence nearby but decided to err on the side of caution. He crept silently to the door and peered inside. Seeing nobody, he slipped inside the door and quickly took stock.

There was only slight damage done to the house. If he had to guess, he would say the Creeveys escaped quickly and the Death Eaters had not lingered. After checking each room, he was relieved to find the house empty. It looked like the Creeveys had all escaped. Allowing himself a small smile, he Apparated back home.

Heaving a sigh, he glanced over the map as he wondered how the Creeveys were faring. Not wanting to dwell on it, he walked over to a nearby bookcase and pulled out a Transfiguration text covering the spells used to magically expand a space to be larger than its physical constraints allowed. He found it difficult to concentrate as his scar began to throb in a dull ache, but he did his best to ignore the pain and continue to read.

He read for a couple hours before being overcome by a fit of yawns and finally deciding to head to bed. When he jolted awake, he was pleasantly surprised to find that he had slept for nearly six hours. With a newfound hope that perhaps his sleeping habits were not entirely doomed, he rolled out of bed and threw on some clothes before heading out for his morning jog and workout.

Unfortunately, he was only a quarter of the way through the park when his necklace heated up again. He pulled up and glanced around quickly before ducking into the trees and Apparating back to his house. When he looked at the map, he saw two names flashing near opposite coasts. "Fuck!" he swore, dispelling the alarm and Disapparating on the spot.

He started running as soon as he appeared. The house was surrounded by wide, open fields, so he did not have any cover to Apparate into. Luckily, it was a Wizarding home, so there was no danger of Muggles wondering how he appeared out of thin air. As he approached the house, three black-cloaked figures emerged from the broken-down front door onto the porch. They froze as they noticed him, and Harry slowed down to barely more than a walk.

They turned towards each other in surprise, and Harry struck. They reacted quickly enough to shield against his three stunners, but the spells did their job distracting the Death Eaters while the Blasting Hex he sent connected with the porch they stood upon, erupting in a spray of splintered wood. Harry was already sprinting towards them and leapt onto the ruined porch. Half-visible and struggling in the wreckage, the Death Eaters were easy targets and quickly fell to his Stunners.

He Summoned and snapped their wands, bound them, and quickly set up an anti-Portkey ward over the porch before Apparating to the second location. Appearing behind a boulder, Harry peeked around it at the house to watch as three Death Eaters disappeared, Dark Mark floating ominously in the sky. Turning his attention to the house, Harry was shocked that it was still standing. Huge sections of the walls had been blasted out of the two walls he could see. Using his magical senses, he confirmed that there were no other wizards in the area before performing a quick sweep of the house to confirm that no victims were left behind, though the damage done to the house was extreme.

He Apparated home to the sound of more beeping, and it was only then that he noticed the heat still around his neck. Wondering if he had forgotten to cancel the charm again, he cursed loudly when the map showed three new names flashing. Memorizing all three names and locations, Harry Disapparated. No longer toying with the pretences of Apparating into cover and approaching the houses from a distance, Harry sprang into being in the front yard, slightly off-centre. He reached out with his magical senses as he rushed forward. There were people still inside the house.

Entering quietly through the ruined front door, Harry used his magical senses to guide him down the hall. As he approached an open doorway, he could hear jeering and taunting which was suddenly overwhelmed by an ear-splitting scream. Harry took a quick peek into the room, and what he saw sickened him. On the ground in the middle of the room was a middle-aged woman in a torn, blood splattered dress writhing under what could only be the Cruciatus curse. Surrounding her were four Death Eaters.

Stepping into the doorway, Harry unleashed twin _Everberos_. The man with his wand trained on the woman was launched bodily through the window across the room, while Harry's other target flew into the wall and slumped to the ground. Harry ducked into the room as he sent two Stunners at his next target, who erected a shield in time to absorb both spells.

"Potter!" the other Death Eater shouted before shooting the Killing Curse at Harry. Dropping to a knee to allow the spell to pass over his head, Harry gestured a hand towards the door which had been knocked off its hinges and sent it at the Death Eater trying to kill him. The door connected with its target, knocking the man off his feet as Harry rolled out of the way of a series of curses coming from the other Death Eater.

Harry sent a series of Stunners, Blasting Hexes, and Cutting Curses in return, but the Death Eater's shield was able to block all of them. Harry side-stepped another Killing Curse when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the door coming towards him. Holding up a hand, he stopped the flying door; however, the door exploded a moment later, and Harry was assaulted with a spray of wood and splinters.

Harry instinctively brought one arm up to cover his eyes and deliberately spun to the side and ducked down to avoid any spells coming his way. He looked up and froze; one of the Death Eaters had grabbed the woman and was holding her up as a human shield.

"Don't move, or she dies," the man spat. His mask had fallen away, and Harry recognized him as Rabastan Lestrange.

Harry eyed him warily as the second Death Eater began to fan around to his side. Holding up both his hands, Harry slowly backed up as his mind tried to assess the situation. He was in serious trouble here. He did not want to leave this woman to them, but it was beginning to look like this was one battle he could not win.

"Where's your wand?" the still-masked Death Eater demanded, stopping in his tracks. Despite the gravity of the situation, Harry barely resisted the urge to smirk. They were only now realizing he was not using a wand? His eyes caught on a trophy lying on the ground on the opposite side of the room behind Lestrange, and a plan began to form in his mind.

"Wand?" Harry asked, stalling.

"Don't play dumb with me…"

"Shut up and kill him," Lestrange snarled.

The man jerked his head towards Lestrange for a moment before turning back to Harry and raising his wand with a flourish. Harry barely gestured with his fingers as the trophy flew through the air and smashed into the back of Rabastan's skull. "_Avada…" _Rabastan released the woman as he staggered forward, and she dropped lifelessly to the floor. Harry brought his arm down and banished Rabastan towards the other Death Eater just as he was finishing his spell. "_Kedavra_!"

The green flash erupted from the tip of his wand just as Rabastan smashed into him. The light disappeared almost the second it emerged, and the two Death Eaters crashed to the ground in a tangle of limbs. Harry sent several Stunners into the pile of limbs, but before any could connect, both bodies disappeared with a pop, as did the unconscious Death Eater on the other side of the room and presumably the one outside as well.

Harry staggered forward and knelt beside the woman, turning her onto her back and brushing her matted hair out of her face. She was unconscious but still breathing. Just a brief glance down her body was enough to convince Harry that she needed more help than he was able to give. He gingerly scooped her up into his arms, using his magic to make her nearly weightless, and walked outside and past the anti-Apparation wards and then Disapparated.

Appearing before a dilapidated storefront, Harry did not even pause to check whether his arrival was noticed by any Muggles. He walked straight into the window of the store and emerged in St. Mungo's. "I need a Healer!" he called. The young woman behind the desk gasped and stared at him. "Now!" he yelled, spurring her into action. Without sparing anyone else in the room a thought, Harry brought her forward as several medi-wizards rushed into the room towards him.

A stretcher was quickly conjured, and as they began to cart her off, the medi-wizards began firing questions at Harry asking after her condition as well as his own.

"Listen," Harry interrupted. "I don't know what was done to her. There was a Death Eater attack. I know she was put under the Cruciatus Curse, but that's all I actually saw. Now, I need to go."

"Wait!"

Too late. He turned and rushed out of the hospital, Disapparating immediately to the second house. The Dark Mark was hovering over a pile of rubble that was at one time a house. Harry could sense no one in the area, and, though he felt horrible about it, he was not willing to spare the time to do a full sweep - not while his students and their families might still be in danger. With barely a moment's hesitation, he left for the next house. It was still standing, but only barely. Luckily, it too was empty. When he Apparated back to his house, Harry immediately staggered to a chair. As the adrenalin left his system, a bone-deep weariness settled over him as the pain from dozens of cuts across his body began to flair up. Slumping down into the soft, cushioned seat, Harry took a long moment to breathe deeply and allow his body a chance to rest.

His mind wandered to his students and their families and inevitably to the woman he had brought to St. Mungo's. He wondered what had happened that led to her being left behind. Did Nathan not know she was there? Or were they taken by surprise, separated and with no chance to all make it out alive? Did she force him to leave without her? He could not take it anymore.

He slowly stood on protesting legs and walked to the bathroom. As he looked into the mirror, he was surprised to see a bloody gash on his forehead just below his scar. He could not remember receiving it, but it had left his face smeared in blood. The wound itself was not large but had bled a lot. It was easily healed along with the other nicks he had accumulated on his face. Staring at himself in the mirror, he heaved a long sigh and achingly stripped off his shirt and began removing splinters.

**A/N:** _Just a reminder, check out www [dot] mvsfiction [dot] com__ for news updates and to read the next chapter a week before it appears on fanfiction sites._


	2. Constant Vigilance

_**A/N:** Many thanks go out to Maggie and Christine for their invaluable assistance on the chapter. Also thank you to all my reviewers. I apologize for the long wait, but I hope you enjoy!_

**Chapter 2: ****Constant Vigilance**

Harry violently startled awake, taking in a blurry shape looming over him. Flinging a hand out at the figure, Harry shouted, "_Stupefy_!"

The figure ducked, shouting, "Stop! It's me, Remus."

The next curse died on his lips as the words penetrated his sleep befuddled brain. "Remus?" Harry asked, rubbing at his eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"I just came from an Order meeting," Remus stated gruffly. "Get up and put some clothes on; we need to talk." He turned and walked out of the room, leaving Harry staring after him in confusion. As his bedroom door clicked shut, Harry swung his legs off the bed and sat up. After a quick trip to the loo, he threw on some trousers and a shirt and walked out to find Remus leaning against the door frame between his kitchen and living room.

"What's going on?" Harry asked him, starting to worry. What could have happened to cause Remus to come to him like this? "Did something happen?"

Remus forcefully pushed himself off the wall. "Yes, something happened. You stumbled into St. Mungo's covered in blood carrying an unconscious woman and disappeared without obtaining any medical aid for yourself. You've been running around fighting Death Eaters on your own, nearly getting yourself killed."

"I was fine," Harry protested. "Just a little scraped up. As you can see, it's nothing I wasn't able to take care of myself."

"That's not the point," Remus countered heatedly. "You've got to stop trying to do everything yourself. That's what I'm here for, you know, to help you. That's why you're meeting Dora. It's stupid and irresponsible to keep going out there on your own."

"What do you want me to say, Remus?" Harry asked, holding his hands out in front of him in supplication. "I didn't have time to track you down. The only place I know to go to find you is Grimmauld Place, and something tells me I wouldn't be able to walk in and out of there very easily."

"If I had known what you had planned, I might have been able to work out some means of communication with you," Remus rebuked. "As it is, I was as surprised as everyone else to learn what you were up to."

Before Harry could think of a response, the alarm sounded, and he spun towards the map. "Wait, Harry," Remus called, grabbing his shoulder as he moved to examine the map. "That's the other reason I came. Dumbledore is setting a trap."

Harry stopped, frozen in place for a moment before turning back to Remus. "He set a trap?"

"While your students have been either unable or unwilling to even speak of the Portkeys," Remus explained, "Dumbledore quickly figured it out and began confiscating the used necklaces to study. He informed the Order that he is reasonably certain you are tracking the use of the Portkeys, so plans were set up to spring a trap on you. The moment you appear he will activate anti-Apparation and anti-Portkey wards."

Peering at the flashing name on the map, Harry's anger grew. "I imagine Hermione jumped at the chance to help," he muttered to himself before turning back to Remus and stating, "If I don't show, won't he suspect a leak in the Order?"

Remus nodded his head slowly. "Yes, that is likely."

"Right, so I'll be back in a minute then," Harry said.

"Wait!"

"We need to keep suspicion off you in the Order," Harry stated exasperatedly. Remus sighed heavily, and Harry knew he had won. "I'll be careful, I promise. Now just wait right there." He Apparated into an alley several houses down from Hermione's and quietly snuck towards the opening to get a look at the Granger house. He felt only one magical presence in the area, and it was one he recognized well. Harry shook his head, not believing that Dumbledore had not brought any backup. Did the old man already forget Harry's escape from his office?

Harry released a sigh and walked out from the alley and down the sidewalk towards the house. He needed Dumbledore to at least see him here before Harry escaped again. As Harry drew closer, he felt a large concentration of magic surrounding the Granger's house and property. At the edge of the property he felt what he believed to be a Muggle Obfuscation Charm to deter any Muggles from taking notice of anything going on. The house, however, had a whole bevy of spells around it. Harry paused to get a feel for the magic and realized that Hermione's home had been warded into a virtual prison. As soon as he strolled in, he had no doubt it would go into lockdown.

Sadly shaking his head, Harry paused outside the front of the house just inside the Obfuscation Charm and stood facing the front doors. "I know you're in there," he called loudly. "I'm not walking into your trap, so you might as well come on out." He waited a long moment, but the headmaster made no move to reply. "I know it's you, Headmaster."

"Harry," he stated while raising both his hands at his side to show they were empty. "Please, I would just like to talk."

Harry could not believe his audacity. "Oh really? You just want to talk? I suppose you'd just like me to walk on in and sit down for some tea? I expected better from you, Professor. Did you think I wouldn't notice all the wards just waiting to be activated on the house? I'd ask you to stop wasting both of our time, but I somehow doubt you'll listen. So I'll just say good day." With that stated, he Disapparated.

"How did it go?" Remus immediately asked.

Harry turned towards him and waved him off. "Fine. He didn't even bring backup. He must have been so sure I'd just run into the house without any thought. I called him out on the trap and politely asked him to stop wasting both of our time, then left."

Remus shook his head. "Well, I'm glad you're all right." Gesturing towards the map on the wall, he said, "When did you put this together?"

"Last couple weeks of term," Harry stated, walking towards the map. "I told you I was planning on giving all my students Portkeys?" He turned back and, at Remus's nod, continued. "When I was creating them, I had this idea," he waved his arm across the map. "It shows me where each Portkey is and who is holding it. I spent the first few days of vacation tracking them down and making note of where I could Apparate in. When a Portkey is used, an alarm goes off to let me know and that name flashes on the map. Tells me where the attack is. Sometimes I make it there on time to find the Death Eaters. Sometimes I don't."

Remus heaved a defeated sigh and softly said, "Tell me what happened."

Harry nodded his head, gestured Remus to have a seat on the sofa, and sank into his armchair. Remus perched himself on the front of the sofa cushion with his elbows on his knees as Harry recounted the attacks that had occurred thus far. When he was finished, Harry asked, "Do you know if she was all right – the woman I took to St. Mungo's? And the students?"

"Your students are all fine," Remus quickly assured him. "They and their families are currently staying in guest rooms at the castle. Ms. Clark was both relieved and worried to hear that you had taken her mother to St. Mungo's. As for her condition, I'm uncertain. From what Albus said, she had not yet woken when he went to check on her. Given the exposure to the Cruciatus Curse, they cannot be certain of her state of mind until she wakes, and they are in no hurry to speed up the process. The more rest she's allowed, the better her chances."

Harry nodded his head distractedly, hoping she would be all right. He could not help but wonder how long she had been tortured before his arrival. "You did all you could for her," Remus said, apparently guessing the direction of his thoughts. "It's certainly more than any of us were able to do." He leaned forward and placed his hand on Harry's knee. "Listen Harry, I want you to know that I'm proud of you, for everything you've done. I know it hasn't been easy for you. You don't have to do it alone anymore, though. You said you created an alarm on that map; how does that work exactly?

"Well, it makes a loud beeping noise in the house, but I keyed it into this necklace." He reached into his shirt to pull out the cord. "It heats up when the alarm goes off. Nothing too fancy, but it's discrete in case I'm around people."

"I want you to make me one," Remus said, his voice brooking no room for disagreement.

Harry nodded his head having expected the request. "It'll only take a moment." He conjured a necklace and started adding the spells to link it to the alarm. When the last spell was added, he handed it to Remus saying, "It'll heat up when the alarm is going off. I can take you around to the different houses so that you're familiar enough to Apparate."

"Why don't we wait on that? Tonks is free tomorrow afternoon," Remus stated as he donned the necklace cord.

"And you want to save me the trouble of doing the rounds twice," Harry finished for him. "You're that sure she's willing to go behind Dumbledore and the Order for me?"

"She'll do what she thinks is right," Remus replied. "She joined the Order despite working for the Ministry."

"I hope you're right," Harry muttered, rubbing his hand tiredly down his face. "To be honest it'll be nice to have you and hopefully Tonks helping. I didn't expect the attacks to be so frequent and focused. To top it off, I haven't been sleeping well. At least I wasn't."

Remus perked up at this. "What do you mean?" he queried.

"Ah, well, I sort of spent the night with Ginny a couple days back," Harry sheepishly admitted.

"At the Burrow?" Remus questioned in shock. Harry nodded, and Remus let out a low whistle. "You sure like to play with fire, Harry."

"I know," Harry ground out. "I just had to see her, and when she noticed how exhausted I was…"

"She tucked you in," Remus inserted with a teasing smirk.

"Something like that," Harry said, smiling wistfully. "It's the first full night sleep I've had in a long time."

"And here I am interrupting your sleep," Remus rebuked himself.

Harry waved his hand dismissively. "I slept fairly well last night. The battles just took a bit out of me, so I took a short nap. Had I slept much longer I might not have been able to sleep tonight. Besides, the alarm would have woken me up anyway."

"I need to get going," Remus said a moment later. He fingered the charmed necklace cord and added, "If this goes off again before tomorrow, give me at least a couple minutes to try to meet you here before you go running off, will you?"

Harry nodded his head and bid Remus goodbye. As Remus reached the door, however, a thought occurred to Harry. "Remus?"

Remus turned with his hand still on the door knob. "Yes, Harry?"

"You still have that motorcycle Sirius left me?"

******OoOoO

Harry soared high above Serpentine Lake, reaching out in all directions with his magical senses. He was not due to meet them for another fifteen minutes, yet it appeared as if they had already arrived. That is unless another pair of magical folk had decided to spend a day amongst the Muggles in Hyde Park.

Winging his way towards the two, he focused in his sharp gaze to confirm their identities. Satisfied, Harry flew to the other side of the lake and touched down amidst the cover of a thick set of trees and reverted to human form. Stepping out onto the path, Harry set off at a brisk jog. Though the purpose of this trip was the meeting to come, he was not about to let a beautiful day at an equally beautiful park go to waste.

By the time he made his way around the elongated body of water, he was running a few minutes behind schedule. The two were sitting at a bench seemingly people watching, though Harry suspected they were specifically watching for only one: him. It was Tonks who noticed him first, blue-haired for the occasion. An elbow into the wolf's side brought his attention to bear on Harry as he slowed down to a walk and approached their bench.

"Fancy meeting the two of you here," Harry greeted with a warm smile.

"Indeed, what a wonderful coincidence," Remus agreed, standing up to greet him with a handshake.

"Tonks, you look lovely," Harry stated as she too stood. "Come give your old friend a hug." He opened his arms and stepped towards her, only to meet the resistance of her hands on his chest.

"Fat chance, Harry," she replied cheekily. "You stink."

"Undone by my thirst for exercise," he declared dramatically. "What do you say, Tonks? Want to trail after me for another turn around the lake? For old time's sake?"

The woman rolled her eyes at him as Remus chuckled. "I think you're barking up the wrong tree, Harry. I seem to recall having to listen to her complain about having to chase after you underneath that cloak, trying to remain invisible to you and anyone else who might be around."

"I certainly won't be missing that job this year," she readily agreed. In an instant, though, the easy-going smile faded. "You could have told me, you know. Rather than fighting me and letting me think you were just trying to lull us into a false sense of security."

Harry sighed. "I didn't like having to lie to you, but I couldn't be sure you wouldn't tell Dumbledore. It was easier to work around your mistrust than risk him finding me out."

She nodded. "I know. You're right, but I don't have to like it."

"Fair enough."

Remus glanced around before turning to Harry. "Should we really be talking in the open like this?"

Harry smirked. "I put up some Notice-Me-Not charms. That should be more than enough for the Muggles. There aren't any other wizards or witches here."

"How can you be sure?" Tonks questioned.

Harry's smile widened. "Trust me."

She rolled her eyes. "Trust _me_," she returned challengingly.

Harry lifted his eyebrows and studied her intently. If he wanted her trust, he would need to show some trust in return. That was fair. Denying her that trust now could very well hurt whatever chance he had in gaining her as an ally. He chanced a glance over at Remus to find the man watching him curiously. Turning back to Tonks he asked, "Can I trust you?" When she opened her mouth to reply, he held up a hand. "Think about it for a second. Can I really trust you? Will you help me, work with me, even if it goes against Dumbledore's direct orders?"

That brought her up short, and she closed her mouth with a snap. She turned to Remus, her gaze lingering for a long moment. He returned her gaze stoically, seemingly unwilling to influence her decision in any way. Turning back to Harry, she spoke. "I like you Harry. I think you've got a good head on your shoulders. When Dumbledore says you're important to this war, I believe him. He says keeping you safe is critical, and I believe that too." She paused for a short moment, and Harry barely dared to breathe, wondering what he was going to do when she told him that she would not go against Dumbledore's orders.

"But then I've seen you fight. It always struck me as suspicious that someone so young could handle himself so well in a duel. That's half the reason I was so apprehensive of Jim – you. Things didn't add up, and you were clearly hiding something. But Remus trusted you, and you're good. Too good to refuse help from. If I thought for a second you weren't taking the threat seriously or that you weren't ready for it, I'd be the first to drag your arse back to Dumbledore. But now I see what he meant when he told us how important you are to the war." Her hair shifted to a bright pink as she spoke, making Harry doubly glad for the Notice-Me-Not Charms he had put up. "I think he still sees you as the boy that needs his protection, but seeing you fight, you can clearly handle yourself – better than most of the Order even. You should be working with the Order, not against it, and I think he'll see that eventually. Until he does, though, you can count on me."

Harry smiled at her, feeling a knot of tension unclench from his stomach. "Thanks, Tonks. That means a lot to me." Turning his head back and forth between the two of them, Harry made a quick decision. "Now that we have that squared away, I think a change of venue is in order. Remus, you know the way. Give us a minute while I fill Tonks in."

Remus's eyebrows shot up. "You don't mean…?"

Harry just winked at him as he turned to Tonks and took hold of her arm. Without warning, he dual-Apparated Tonks to a small pocket of his front lawn just outside the Fidelius Charm but still inside most of the wards.

"What the hell?" Tonks swore, as she turned around to survey the area. "Where are we?"

"Tonks, calm down and pay attention," Harry stated forcefully. He continued more softly, "Harry Potter lives at 165 Magpie Lane."

"Huh?" She gasped as the knowledge of his secret caused his home to appear before her out of seemingly nothing.

"Welcome to my home," Harry said, ushering her forward.

"How did you…?" Tonks began but was interrupted by the pop announcing Remus's arrival. She spun on her heel to face him and demanded, "Did you have something to do with this?"

He rubbed the back of his neck as he responded, "Well, I did help him purchase the house."

"But where did you learn to do a Fidelius?" she asked in frustration.

"I didn't," he said simply. "Like I said, I did all the legwork for the purchase, but Harry did all of the warding including the Fidelius."

As she turned back to him, she asked in a defeated tone, "How?"

Shrugging, Harry replied. "I've been planning for this since last summer. I learned how to do the Fidelius from a book in my parents' vault. The other wards I got from a variety of sources." He shrugged again. "Shall we go inside?"

He led them straight to the map. "Is that what I think it is?"

"That would depend on what you think it is," Remus softly replied from her side.

Walking right up to the map, she traced her fingers over a few of the names before turning to Harry. "How does it work?"

"The charms are tied into the Portkeys I gave all my students," he explained. "You know about those, I assume?" She nodded. "Well, this," he gestured to the map, "shows me where they all are. When one of the Portkeys is activated, an alarm sounds, and the name starts flashing. I Apparate nearby and make sure nobody was left behind."

"And pick fights with Death Eaters," Remus inserted with just the slightest hint of reproach in his tone.

"Yes, well," Harry replied. "Can't just let them walk away, can I?"

Harry glanced back to Tonks who was shaking her head. "This is brilliant," she said. "I can't believe we never thought of something like this for the Order. Or the Ministry."

"Well, I have the Marauders to thank," Harry informed her. "It was their map that gave me the idea."

"Remus told me about that," she commented. "Does it really show you where everyone is in the castle?"

Harry nodded. "It's a right useful bit of parchment to be sure."

At Remus's prompting, Harry explained his mobile addition to the alarm and, rather than make another necklace cord for her, applied the charms to a necklace she already wore. Once the charms were complete, Remus asked, "So how about taking us on the rounds then?"

After he Apparated them outside the first house, Remus pulled a camera out of his robes. "Not all of us have Occlumency to help us recall our memories," he explained to Harry's raised brow.

"Oh just admit it; your memory's failing you, old man," Tonks interjected playfully.

Harry smirked as Remus feigned outrage and watched the two for a moment before clearing his throat loudly. "If you children are quite finished, we have plenty more houses to visit." They both stuck their tongues out at him at the exact same moment, and Harry burst out laughing. "What have I gotten myself into?"

They made quick work of it, moving from house to house and staying only long enough for Remus to take his pictures. Harry was surprised to find that it worked much like a Muggle instant camera, immediately expelling the photos, which Remus then marked with the appropriate student's name. When they arrived back at Harry's home, the three agreed to meet at the map at the next alarm.

Remus gave him a wan smile before leading Tonks out, who gave Harry a cheery wave saying, "See you – hopefully not too soon."

******OoOoO

Albus sighed wearily to himself as he settled in an armchair allowing his gaze to wander around the dark lounge of the Black ancestral home. While Molly and the children had done wonders in cleaning the place, it still retained its grim and gloomy appearance. Pulling out a pocket watch, he confirmed with a glance that he was right on time. Shaking his head to himself, he knew he should not be surprised. When was a Weasley ever not running behind? Except young Percival, of course. Just the same he was anxious to get this meeting under way. He had intended to hold this meeting yesterday after his failed attempt to speak to Harry, but he was unable to make the time for it.

That was not entirely true, though. He had been busy, of course, but this was far more important than any of the other pressing matters that required his attention. Indeed, this meeting was absolutely critical, and he dreaded hearing their response. He could only hope they would see eye to eye with him on this matter. Molly and Arthur were both reasonable people, but when it came to their children…

His thoughts were interrupted as the couple in question tentatively pushed open the door before walking in. "Thank you for coming on such short notice," Dumbledore stated while surveying the couple before him.

"Of course, Albus," Molly replied, apprehensive worry etched clearly on her face.

"What is it you wanted to speak with us about?" Arthur asked, his calm demeanour contrasting his wife.

"Please, have a seat," he replied, gesturing to the pair of chairs in front of him. As the two parents moved to do just that, Dumbledore considered how to broach this very sensitive subject. "As you learned in the Order meeting yesterday, not only has Harry supplied his students with illegal Portkeys, he is also tracking their use in order to initiate confrontations with Death Eaters. Even more disturbingly, he appears to be working completely alone. Regardless of his abilities, I do not think I have to tell you the level of danger this places him in."

"Have you any leads on where he is?" Molly interjected hopefully.

"Alas, I do not," he answered. "Which is the reason I asked you here today. What I am about to propose to you, I do with great reluctance. It is not a path I would choose to take if given other options, but after learning of Harry's appearance in St. Mungo's yesterday morning, it is clear that time is of the essence. Any avenue available to us must be explored."

"Of course, Albus," Arthur inserted. "Nobody wants to see Harry's safety ensured more than Molly and I."

Albus nodded his head. "Indeed." He paused a moment to collect his thoughts before proceeding. "You have raised suspicions that your daughter may know more about Harry's whereabouts than she has let on, and, in truth, I suspected the same. While she has denied any knowledge of Harry's summer activities, I believe her loyalty to Harry would preclude any demands we might make of her." Expelling a long breath, he decided to delve into his request. "Which is why I have asked you here to seek your permission to question your daughter again and, presuming she once again denies any knowledge, perform Legilimency on her to verify the veracity of her claims."

"You want to what?" Molly demanded hotly, rising from her chair.

Arthur caught her arm and, with only a look, convinced her to return to her seat. "To be clear, Albus, you wish to break into our daughter's mind to retrieve any information she might have about Harry?"

"Passive Legilimency will allow me to determine whether or not she speaks the truth and would not intrude upon her thoughts," he replied carefully. "In the event that she is indeed hiding something, then yes, I would need to venture into her mind to retrieve what information she possesses." Holding up a hand to stall any interruptions, he continued, "Performed by a skilled practitioner, Legilimency is typically undetectable to one without any training in Occlumency. It is likely that your daughter would be completely unaware of any intrusion into her mind."

"Likely?" Arthur asked. "You mean to tell me you are not sure?"

He tilted his head forward slightly in a nod. "There are some with a natural affinity toward the mental arts who have been able to detect psychic intrusions without any training. Such gifts are uncommon but not unheard-of."

"Would it hurt her?" Molly asked in a soft yet resolute voice.

"No," Albus replied. "If she detected the intrusion, it might cause her to panic, but Legilimency does not inflict any physical pain." He noticed Arthur's eyes narrow slightly at his words, but he said nothing.

"You have no other leads, Albus?" Molly asked, her voice close to breaking.

For a long moment Albus was silent. He spread his hands open and looked at the two imploringly. "I would not even consider this course of action were there any other avenues available to me. We are no closer to finding him now than when he first disappeared. Our only other option is to stake out the homes of his students, but we would need to allow Death Eater attacks to proceed unhindered to guarantee Harry's appearance, and that is not something I am willing to do. In all likelihood, even if we managed to confront Harry this way, he would simply return to wherever it is he is currently dwelling the moment he caught wind of any of us. As long as his residence remains hidden from us we have no hope of keeping him safe."

The couple shared a long look before Arthur turned to him and asked, "May we have a moment to discuss it in private?"

"Of course," Albus agreed, standing from his seat. "I think I'll have a cup of tea in the kitchen. Please join me whenever you are ready." He walked out of the parlour and down to the kitchen, opting not to sit. He poured a steaming cup of tea and took a small sip before placing the cup on the counter and beginning to pace the narrow confines of the room. He was at his wit's end and was not sure what he would do should the couple refuse his proposal. He was not lying when he said this was their only available option at the moment.

He feared that every minute that Harry remained missing would ruin them. Several members of the Order were impressed with Harry's proactive approach to the war. Even he had to admit the young man had surprised him, but he held onto no illusions. Tom was a brilliant strategist second to no one. Harry might have won a few battles, but it was only a matter of time before Tom managed to turn that around to spring a trap on Harry. It was absolutely imperative he find Harry immediately.

His thoughts were interrupted as the door opened and the two Weasleys walked into the kitchen. He hardly dared look at their faces fearing what he would find there, but he needed to know. As he looked up, Molly's face was filled with worry. Arthur's, on the other hand, was unreadable as he stared at Albus unflinchingly. "I want you to use Legilimency on me," he stated.

Albus felt his eyebrows rise at the unexpected request and peered over his spectacles at the man. "Pardon?"

"If we are to allow you to use it on our daughter, I would like to ensure that it is something I would find acceptable to be performed on her," he said unemotionally.

Albus nodded. "If you are sure…" Arthur nodded in reply. "Very well. I will ask you a series of questions. I would like you to lie to me; meanwhile, I shall learn the true responses from your mind. Are you ready?"

At Arthur's nod, he began. After a series of inconsequential questions, Albus retreated from Arthur's mind and repeated back what he had learned from the Weasley patriarch's thoughts.

"Did you detect my intrusion?" Albus asked.

The man shook his head. "Even knowing you were doing it, I couldn't feel a thing." He looked over at his wife, and they shared a conversation solely with their eyes before Arthur turned back to him. "Very well. You have our consent."

Albus released a deep breath. "Thank you, Arthur, Molly."

******OoOoO

"Ginny, dear," her mum's voice drifted up the stairs. "Can you please come down to the kitchen?"

Sighing, Ginny shut her book and headed down the stairs wondering what her mother wanted now. She was only mildly surprised to find not only her mother and father but also the headmaster gathered in the Burrow's kitchen. The headmaster was seated at the head of the table while her parents stood closely together at the counter.

"What is it you wanted, Mum?" she asked, though she had a very strong suspicion it was not her mother she was here for. It would appear she was in for another round of interrogations.

"The headmaster wishes to ask you a few questions," her mother replied.

"Please be as honest as you can be," her father implored her.

She nodded at her parents before turning her attention to the headmaster. "Please, have a seat," he said in a kindly voice.

Ginny did as requested, leaving one chair between her and the professor.

"Harry Potter appeared yesterday morning in St. Mungo's." Ginny sat rigidly in her seat, fear and worry blossoming in the pit of her stomach. "He was bloody and clearly injured, carrying the unconscious mother of one of your classmates." The fear that had gripped her eased slightly. If he was well enough to carry someone into the hospital, he could not have been that bad off. "He left the hospital without receiving any medical attention in spite of the pleas from the healers and is once again missing." Ginny let out a deep breath. She was worried for Harry, of course, but she knew that Harry was capable of healing most normal injuries. She was confident he could take care of himself.

Tilting his head down and looking at her from over his half-moon spectacles, Dumbledore continued, "I was hoping that, in light of Harry's injured state, you might be more motivated to remember anything Harry may have told you prior to his disappearance that would help us locate him to ensure he receives the medical care he requires."

Ginny shook her head and adopted her best regretful look. "I'm sorry, Headmaster," Ginny replied, and as she did so, she felt a presence probing her Occlumency shields. She narrowed her eyes and glared at the headmaster. She reinforced her shield and pushed against the presence until she felt it vanish. The headmaster's eyes widened in shock. "That's not very polite, Headmaster," Ginny commented icily.

"What do you…?" her mother started to ask, but Ginny did not hear the rest, for the headmaster's presence stabbed suddenly at her mind. She barely flinched in her seat as she poured all of her attention into stopping the attack. She was prepared when she felt a second presence strike at another area of her shields. The headmaster was more skilled at this than Harry, but it had been weeks since Harry had been able to get past her defences.

A moment later she was stupefied when a third presence appeared, and her momentary shock was enough for the headmaster to break through her outer defences. She felt him glance at and discard several memories as he pushed further into her mind. A feeling of rage and fear surged within her, and, without conscious thought, she thrust her hand at the headmaster and blasted the man clear out of his seat. "How dare you!" she screamed. "You're no better than Voldemort! When he failed he resorted to the Cruciatus Curse; you want to subject me to that too? Because it's going to take a lot more than that to get me to betray Harry to you."

She dimly heard her mother gasp at the casual mention of Voldemort and her brief time in captivity, but she was too enraged to pay any attention to it. Dumbledore struggled into a sitting position against the far wall, a wary, defeated look etched into his features. "You said she wouldn't feel a thing," her mother muttered.

It took a moment for the words to penetrate into her mind, and as soon as they did, she spun to her parents. "You knew?" she demanded. "You let him try to – to rape my mind?"

"Ginny…" her father began, taking a tentative step forward.

"Please do not blame them," the headmaster's voice interrupted sounding weaker than she had ever heard it.

Turning back to the man, she ground out between clenched teeth, "Get out."

"Ginny," her mother's voice took on a pleading quality.

"No!" she shouted, shooting her parent's a quelling look. "It's one thing to have a Dark Lord try to force his way into my mind. But you," she said, turning back to the headmaster. "I should be able to trust you. You…"

A loud bang interrupted her as the back door slammed open. She turned to the source of the noise and immediately lost the train of her thoughts.

"Ginny!" Harry's voice called wildly as he stormed into the kitchen. Spotting her, he frantically rushed towards her and enveloped her in a tight, desperate embrace. "You're okay," he murmured into her hair.

"Harry?" she asked him as she reluctantly separated herself from his arms. "Of course I'm okay. What are you doing here?"

"I don't know," he replied seeming to only now become aware of his surroundings and the others in the room. "I just felt like something was wrong, that you were in trouble." As his eyes locked onto the headmaster, who was slowly rising into a standing position, he took a more defensive stance and held out one arm in front of them as he backed her up until she was against the wall. "What's going on here?"

"The headmaster decided to try to break into my mind," Ginny told him, anger and hurt creeping back into her voice. He looked back at her quickly before returning his gaze to the old wizard. "And my parents gave him their permission to do it."

Harry's head spun abruptly towards her parents. "How could you?" he asked them, his shock evident. "After everything – the diary and a few weeks ago – how could you do that to her?"

With Harry here, Ginny could feel her anger and energy rapidly depleting. She just wanted out of there. She gripped his shoulders tightly and whispered to him, "Take me home, Harry."

He kept his eyes on the headmaster as he turned his head toward her as if seeking confirmation. "Please," she murmured.

Nodding his head, he began to walk slowly toward the door, holding one arm out threateningly towards the headmaster. She turned her gaze to her parents as she followed him, keeping one hand on his shoulder.

"Harry, Miss Weasley," Dumbledore entreated softly, making no move to stand in their way.

"Where are you going?" her mum asked.

"Home," she replied simply.

"But you are…" her mother responded, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Doesn't feel like it at the moment," she answered starkly.

"Please," her father and the headmaster both pleaded at the same time.

"I think we're past the point where either of you has the right to ask anything of me," she said.

"Young lady," her mum stated, stepping forward as if to block their path. Ginny whipped her wand out and levelled it at her mother, who froze and backed away into her father, heartbreak clearly etched across her face.

"No, Mum," she stated simply as they reached the door. "Goodbye."

As soon as they were out the door a loud meow drew her attention to the side. "Emerald," she said, scooping up the cat as she trotted over. With Emerald in her arms, they quickened their pace until they passed the threshold of the wards. He drew her into his arms then and, looking up into his questioning gaze, she nodded her head. He squeezed her tightly, and a moment later they appeared outside Harry's home. Walking inside, Emerald leapt from her arms, and the gravity of the betrayal she felt seemed to fall on her all at once. She knew the headmaster was desperate, but she had not expected…. And her parents – she could not believe….

"Ginny," Harry whispered, his hand coming to rest on her shoulder. That was all the encouragement she needed to turn into his embrace, the tears finally beginning to fall. His arms once again wrapped around her as he drew her down onto the sofa, and she curled into his embrace, settling on his lap.

******OoOoO

Harry had no idea how long they stayed there. Ginny had long since run out of tears, but she made no move to get up, and he was content to hold her for as long as she needed. He found he could not quite believe it. He was used to his own family's constant betrayals, but that was different. They hated him. Her parents loved her, yet they knowingly gave Dumbledore their permission to violate the mind of their own daughter.

He felt guilty. He knew he was not really at fault, but he could not help feeling that way. Had he handled things differently, Ginny would never have been put into that position. He was furious with her parents and Dumbledore. He had not thought Mr. and Mrs. Weasley capable of such a betrayal, regardless of how well-intentioned they may have been. No matter what danger they perceived him to be in, he would never have imagined them doing something like this to their own daughter.

Ginny chose to put him above the demands of her family, and he felt humbled. He knew she loved him, and he did not doubt her love for a moment. When she asked him to take her home, though, and he realized that she meant _his home_, his heart felt like it would burst. The love he felt and the sadness and anger over what she was going through swirled together almost painfully inside him.

Ginny lifted her head suddenly off his shoulder and leaned back to look into his face. "Can we go for a run?"

"Yes," Harry replied, the idea immediately taking root in his brain. "That sounds perfect."

She smiled tremulously and slipped off his lap. As he stood, she looked down at her clothes and then at him. "I don't have any other clothes."

"Not to worry," Harry replied. He waved his hand and transfigured her clothes into what she normally wore during their morning jogs at Hogwarts.

"Thanks," she replied uneasily. "But you missed something rather important." Harry frowned at her in confusion as her face began to burn red. "My bra," she explained. "I can't run in this one."

"Oh," Harry said, feeling the heat in his own face as his eyes glanced down to her chest and then quickly back up to her eyes. "Umm… I don't know…"

"I should hope not," she interjected with a short burst of embarrassed laughter. "Unless you've been rooting around my drawers."

Harry could not help the laughter that escaped him as he imagined sneaking into the girls' dormitory in Hogwarts to rummage through her clothes. "Right, you caught me," he stated, holding his hands up in supplication. "So which will it be then? The black one? Or maybe the pink?"

"Prat," she said, swatting at his arm. "Besides, redheads can't wear pink."

They stood there for a moment before she sighed and said, "I guess I could give it a shot. I'm going to head into the loo though so that I can see what I'm doing."

"Okay," Harry said, nodding. "Good luck."

"Thanks," she murmured before disappearing behind the closed door.

As the silence pressed around him, Harry felt the mix of emotions once again warring within him. The urge to get out of the house and on the forest path made him fidgety, but it was not long before the door opened and Ginny stepped out. "All set?" he asked hopefully.

"Yep," she answered. "Let's go."

She led him out of this house, but he quickly caught up as they set off in a jog. He led her to the park and set a strong pace which she matched without a word of protest. He focused on the rhythm of his breathing, pushing aside all his anger and resentment. It was surprisingly easy to do. As he looked over at Ginny, he realized that some good had come of it, selfish though it may be to think that way. He hated the way it happened, but he was thrilled to have Ginny there with him. He brushed his arm against hers, and she turned and smiled at him, and it seemed to come easier to her now. He caught and squeezed her hand for just a moment before releasing it.

As they passed a woman jogging in the opposite direction, Harry was suddenly a lot more curious about the bra Ginny was wearing underneath that shirt. Was it like the Muggle sports bra he had just seen that woman wearing? He decided right then and there that he really needed to take Ginny shopping for some Muggle clothes. Well, in reality she would need both wizarding and Muggle clothing if she planned to stay with him for any length of time – or else they would need to pick up her clothes from the Burrow. They would need to talk about that later.

In the meantime Harry picked up his pace a bit, and Ginny sped up to match him. Eventually they slowed down to a cool-down walk, both breathing heavily, though Ginny looked a bit worse off than he felt. "It's harder to push myself," she said between deep breaths, "when I'm running on my own."

"Not getting soft on me, are you?" Harry asked with a grin.

"I thought you liked how _soft_ I am," Ginny teasingly replied.

Harry was thankful that he was already flushed from their run, but he was even more thankful to see that their run seemed to have helped her as much as it had him. He grasped her hand and brought it to his lips. Placing a kiss on the back of her hand, he said, "I do, and you know that's not what I meant."

She smirked and tugged on his hand, forcing Harry to stop and turn towards her. She let his hand go and wound her arms behind his neck as Harry settled his on her hips. As she rose onto her toes, Harry leaned down and captured her lips with his. After only a few seconds, he ended the kiss and leaned his forehead against hers. "If you have enough breath to kiss, then I must not have run you hard enough."

"Harry?" she asked in a breathy whisper.

"Hmm?"

"Shut up." With that, she pulled his head back down and recaptured his lips.

A long moment later, a quiet giggle followed by an indistinct voice caused Harry to abruptly pull back. Coming up the path was a woman with two children. Harry felt his face heat up as he found all three faces pointed in their direction. Ginny turned around in his embrace to see what had captured his attention. She gave a slight wave to the onlookers as they walked by, but even as the children waved back, Harry did not move. The children were magical.

It hit him hard that he had let his guard down to the point where two magical people, albeit innocent children, could have snuck within several metres of him without him realizing it. Having Ginny with him was wonderful, but he would need to be extra careful to remain vigilant and not allow himself to be distracted. As the young family passed, Ginny turned around and asked, "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing," Harry said. When she treated him to a rather stern look, he decided to elaborate. "The two children were magical."

"Do you think they recognized you?" she asked in alarm.

"I don't think so," Harry replied. "The mother was definitely a Muggle, and the older one looked pretty young. Probably hasn't even started Hogwarts yet. They might not even know they're magical."

"Okay," Ginny responded, drawing out the word. "Then what's bothering you?"

"It's just," Harry began, running a hand through is hair. "I should have noticed them approaching long before they were even visible, but I didn't. I didn't realize they were there until I heard one of them laugh."

Ginny paused with a frown before saying, "And you're worried that it could just as easily have been Death Eaters or Dumbledore." It was not a question, and Harry did not respond. "You can't be perfect, Harry. You can't expect to be on your guard every second of every day."

"No," Harry replied. "But I should be on my guard when we're out in the open like this. I can relax at home."

She said nothing else but simply grasped his hand and resumed walking. It was not until they made it back inside the wards of his home that she spoke up. "So what about me?"

"What about you?" Harry asked in confusion.

"Well why should you be the only one responsible?" Ginny queried. "I didn't notice anybody approaching us either."

"That's different," Harry countered.

"How so?" she challenged.

"I can sense magic and magical people; you can't," Harry replied simply.

"True," she agreed. "But that doesn't mean you're the only one responsible for being alert."

"I know that," he admitted. "I feel responsible, though. I mean, you wouldn't be here if not for me. If anything were to happen to you…"

"I can take care of myself, Harry," Ginny inserted softly. "You've seen to that."

"I know," he said with a sigh. "It just worried me that I was so easily distracted."

"You mean I'm a distraction," she clarified.

"I don't mean it to sound like that," Harry said. "I'm happy you're here. For Merlin's sake, I couldn't even last a week without going to see you at the Burrow despite the risk of getting caught. We just need to be careful not to get too carried away out there," he said, sweeping his arm in a wide arc toward the street. "In here we're safe. Out there, we need to be more careful. I know I'm being paranoid…"

"No, you're right," Ginny interjected, leading him inside the house. "We're both targets for Death Eaters and the Order now. There's no telling when or where either might catch up to us."

"Exactly!" Harry exclaimed, following her into the kitchen. She hopped up and sat on the counter as he grabbed two glasses and filled them with water, handing one to her. "I'm not saying we can't leave the wards here. We just need to be more careful not to let our guards down when we do."

"Deal," she agreed with a sly smirk. "Outside we keep our guards up. Inside we can get carried away all we want." She plucked his still half-full glass of water out of his hands and put it on the counter beside her. Looking left and right, she said, "Looks like we're inside the wards now." Without his realizing it, she had hooked one leg behind his waist and suddenly pulled him towards her.

Harry leaned in, placing his hands on the counter on either side of her. He stopped just a breath away from her lips. "Must be time to get carried away then."

She pulled his head in and captured his lips in a fiery kiss. Harry soon lost himself in her kiss, his hands wandering up and down her back. He was acutely aware of her leg which was still hooked behind his waist and how close that put them, and he was quite surprised when her other leg wound its way around in kind. Suddenly, he was pulled forward as Ginny lifted her weight onto him, and he stumbled into the counter, bringing him into rather intimate contact with her.

He reluctantly tore his lips away from hers and looked into her eyes. "Ginny…"

She recaptured his lips with hers, effectively silencing him. One arm wound tightly behind his neck as she trailed the other one down his arm. Her legs squeezed tight against him, and he was prepared this time when she pulled herself off the counter again. He straightened up to hold her weight and settled his hands at her hips. Ginny's hand on his arm had other ideas, however. She took hold of his hand and dragged it down from her hip and placed it directly underneath her, his hand cupping her bum.

Harry's eyes popped wide open, and his lips stopped moving. Ginny leaned her head back and pointedly glanced down at his other hand which was still resting at her waist and then back to his face with a shy smile. Harry was all too happy to oblige and moved the hand down to her bum, hoisting her back up so that her lips were more or less even with his.

Their eyes met and Harry practically growled as he crushed his lips against hers.

******OoOoO

Ron shouldered his broom and began walking towards the shed, wondering what had happened to his sister. She was supposed to meet him at the clearing for some Quidditch practice over an hour ago. It was unlike her to miss a chance to get on a broom. He deposited the broom in the shed and proceeded into the house.

"Mum," he called, frowning when there was no response. He heard a sound in the lounge, so he pushed open the door asking, "Have you seen Gin – what's wrong?" His parents were sitting together on the sofa, his mum wrapped in his father's embrace and crying into his shoulder. His mum only sobbed harder at his question, and he felt as if a Bludger suddenly smashed into his stomach as his mind frantically wondered which of his brothers it was. Or Harry. Gods, it could not be Harry. He looked his father dead in the eye and pleaded, "Who is it? Just tell me?"

His father shook his head. "It's not like that," he said his voice oddly tight, as if he was barely reining in his own emotions. "It's your sister. She's left."

"Left?" he demanded. "What do you mean left?"

"She's gone with Harry," his father answered quietly.

His mum gave another sob and cried, "We practically pushed her out. How could we? My baby, gone!"

Ron stared wide-eyed at his parents, trying to piece together just what had happened in his short absence. "Ginny left to be with Harry?"

"She left with Harry," his father corrected.

Ron walked over to an armchair and sank down, dropping his head into his hands. After a long moment of silence, he looked back up at his father and asked, "Harry was here?" His father nodded. "Why would he come here? Just what the bloody hell happened?" It was a testament to her preoccupation that his mother did not reprimand him for his language.

"The headmaster came to question Ginny some more about Harry," his father explained. This was not surprising. Dumbledore had been there several times already for just that purpose. He had questioned Ron a couple times as well, though he knew that Ginny had gotten much worse. "Ginny became…" he paused here for a moment as if searching for the word before continuing, "distressed, and somehow Harry was alerted. He came to check on her, and she left with him."

Ron frowned at his dad. "That doesn't make any sense. How would Harry know something was wrong with her, and why would Ginny get so worked up in the first place? Dumbledore's already questioned her several times."

"I don't know how Harry knew," his dad told him. "The headmaster wasn't just questioning Ginny." He paused and ran a weary hand down his face and then let out a heavy sigh. "He was using Legilimency to find out what she knew."

"And we let him!" his mum shrieked before dissolving into more sobs.

Ron sat back in his chair, stunned. Harry had not talked much about his Occlumency lessons with Snape last year, but from what little Harry had said, having someone in your mind was not a pleasant experience. If Ginny had something to hide, and he assumed she did, it was no wonder she went off. But that did not answer how Harry knew to come, unless Ginny had some way to let him know she was in trouble, perhaps something like the coins they used for the DA.

As the facts of the situation settled in his mind, he nearly swore. He could not believe he had missed the chance to see Harry. There was so much he wanted to say to him. Harry had been so secretive last year, and their friendship had not been the same as it once was. Ron knew he was largely at fault for the distance that grew between them, but he also knew just what it was Harry had been hiding. Part of him resented Harry for hiding it from him. Ron had always stuck by him in the past, so there was no reason for Harry to think he would do otherwise now. But that was Harry for you. He always seemed to think he needed to do things on his own.

Whatever Harry's reasons, now that Ron knew what it was Harry was keeping from him, he wanted to help Harry and smack him upside the head for thinking Ron would just stand aside while he did all the dirty work. More than anything, though, Ron just wanted his friend back. He only hoped he got a chance to tell Harry that before it was too late.

His dad returned his attention toward comforting his mum, so Ron took the opportunity to slip out of the room. He needed time to think, and more than that he needed someone to talk to. His mind immediately went to Hermione, but he pushed her from his thoughts. She had betrayed Harry and tried to blackmail Ron into joining her. He did not even want to know what she thought about all of this. No doubt she was helping them track Harry down.

He needed someone else to talk to, someone who would understand where Harry was coming from. Grabbing some parchment and a quill, Ron sat down to write.

_Fred and George,_

_You will not believe what's happened…_

******OoOoO

"Ginny?"

"Mmm?" she murmured sleepily.

"Are you going to stay?" he asked, finding himself dreading the answer more than he had thought he would. "Or will you go back to the Burrow?"

He felt her stir and opened his eyes as she lifted her head off his chest to look into his face. "I'm not going anywhere, Harry."

"Promise?"

She leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his lips. "Promise. Now go to sleep."

He smiled widely at her as she once again settled against his chest. He squeezed her lightly against him and said, "We're gonna have to get you some clothes. You can't keep wearing mine."

She shifted her head back and peeked up at him with one eye.

"Okay, you can wear my clothes to bed," Harry conceded, having already admitted how much he enjoyed seeing her in one of his t-shirts and a pair of his boxers. She smirked at him and shifted back into place. "But you are going to need some clothes of your own, and I don't think going to the Burrow would be wise right now."

"Don't have money," she mumbled sleepily against his chest.

"You do," Harry argued. "Mine."

She sighed but said nothing to dispute him.

"I need to meet Fred and George for some training tomorrow," he told her a moment later. "Do you want to join?"

"'Kay," was her barely coherent reply.

"I love you, Ginny," he whispered, kissing the top of her head. Her deep, even breathing was the only sound that met him. He smiled while running a hand through her silky hair and felt sleep begin to tug away his consciousness.

He awoke to find Ginny was already up. He frowned at the empty spot next to him, having looked forward to lingering in bed awhile. Distantly he heard the sound of a pan clanking and could just catch the scent of some sizzling bacon. Rolling out of bed, he stopped by the loo to take care of a few morning ablutions before grabbing a t-shirt and stumbling out of his room while pulling it over his head. Walking into the kitchen, he found Ginny manning the stove.

He leaned against the doorframe and watched her as she moved back and forth between the bacon and an omelette. She was still wearing just his boxers and a t-shirt, and he could not help but admire the view the ensemble provided. She definitely looked much better in them than he did. She turned slightly and nearly jumped out of her skin as she let out a startled yelp. "Merlin, Harry," she scolded. "You scared me."

"Sorry," he apologized as he walked up to her and gave her a quick kiss. "Didn't know I looked that horrible in the mornings."

She swatted at him with a nearby towel muttering, "Prat." Turning back to the stove, she commanded, "Get us something to drink and sit. I've got this under control."

Harry did just that, pouring two glasses of juice and taking a seat, quite content to just sit back and watch her at work, though to be honest he was not paying much mind to what her hands were doing. Instead, his thoughts and eyes were both on her bum and the way it had felt in his hands yesterday. He nearly startled himself with the realization that he could probably touch it all he wanted now. Well, perhaps not **all** he wanted. But surely after having her place his hands there yesterday, she would not be opposed to him taking the initiative now. She seemed to enjoy it almost as much as he did.

Just as his mind was imagining some other interesting places his hands might eventually be allowed access to, Harry was jolted out of his thoughts with a start as Ginny placed a plate in front of him. "It's not exactly a culinary masterpiece, but it'll do," she stated, looking somewhat fondly at the falling-apart omelette. "What are you smiling about?"

"Huh?" he asked, shaking his head of his earlier thoughts. "Oh, nothing. This looks… well, I'm sure it'll taste delicious."

She rolled her eyes. "You're a prat, Harry." A moment later, she sat across from him at the small table with her own plate and commented, "Keep up that attitude and you'll see if I ever cook for you again."

After swallowing a forkful of his omelette, Harry said, "It's good, really. Thanks for cooking."

"No problem," she replied, tucking into her own meal. They ate in silence for a long moment before she asked, "So what have you got planned for the day."

"Well, I was planning in taking you clothes shopping followed by…"

"Clothes shopping?" Ginny interrupted.

"Yeah," Harry said in confusion. "We talked about that last night."

"We did?"

"Mmhmm," Harry murmured around a mouthful of bacon. Swallowing, he added, "Much as I enjoy you wearing my clothes around the house, you can't go out in public in that."

"I don't remember talking about that," she muttered to herself.

"Well, you were pretty out of it at the time," Harry commented. "Must've been half asleep."

"So what else did you have me agreeing to while I was half asleep?" she questioned coyly.

"Oh, nothing much," Harry stated. "You agreed to join in training with Fred and George today, and you offered me full access to your bum any time I please."

"I did, did I?" Ginny inquired sceptically.

"Yep," he replied after swallowing his last bite of food. Sending Ginny a wink, he picked up his plate and brought it over to the sink. He was just turning on the tap when he remembered himself and simply cast a cleaning charm on the dish and his fork. He put them away and turned back to see Ginny had finished her meal. Taking her dish from her, he cleaned it and turned to put it away as well.

"I don't suppose that deal goes both ways, does it, Mr. Potter?" Ginny asked as he felt her slide right up behind him.

"Hmm?" he asked just as he felt her pinch his bum. "Hey!" he shouted, and the plate made a loud clanging as he dropped it on top of the pile. Turning around, he eyed his smirking girlfriend as she slowly backed away from him and said, "Watch it, Weasley. I may just have to punish you for that."

"Oh?" she teased. "What did you have in mind?"

Smiling wickedly, Harry slowly walked up to her, their eyes locked together. He reached out with one hand and gripped her waist as he brought his other up to her side and started to tickle.

"No!" she screamed amidst a burst of laughter. Breaking away from his grasp, she ran for the living room.

Harry was in hot pursuit. He leapt over the back of the sofa, managing to catch her around the waist. He dragged her with him as he fell back against the cushions, his hands immediately snaking their way to her sides which were extremely sensitive.

Howling in laughter she protested, "Stop!" He did not. "Harry, please!"

He stopped tickling her but held her down firmly on top of him. "Have you learned your lesson?"

She turned in his arms until she was straddling his waist. "Of course," she replied.

"And what did you learn?"

She leaned in close so that her lips were a mere breath away. "Never let your guard down."

With no other warning than that, she attacked his sides. Harry adopted a bored expression as he surveyed her efforts. She looked up at him and frowned, then reached back and tried the back of his knee. He raised his eyebrow in challenge. She dove off him and onto the ground, grabbing his foot and going to work. He had to stifle a slight urge to chuckle but was able to suppress it in time and resumed his blank mask. "Are you enjoying yourself?"

"That's not fair!" she complained, giving his thigh a light slap. "You have to be ticklish somewhere."

"Do I?" he asked, giving her a wicked grin. "Well, I reckon you'll have to keep searching then."

"Who needs to search?" she asked, matching his grin. She raised one hand and pointed it at his chest, intoning, "_Rictumsempra!_"

He had no time to shield himself as the spell impacted his chest. Harry immediately broke out into a fit of laughter that left him struggling to catch his breath. After a long moment he regained his bearings enough to summon his magic to cancel the spell. "Not fair, Weasley, using tricks I've taught you."

"At least that will work on you," she said, ignoring his statement. "I'll just have to slip that spell in any time I try to tickle you. Now all this laughter's made me have to pee."

Harry laughed as she jumped up and ran off into the loo. After hearing the toilet flush, she called out. "I'm going to shower."

Shrugging to himself, Harry settled in with a book until he could have his turn in the shower.

******OoOoO

"What do you think?" Harry asked.

She regarded her reflection in the mirror critically. It was beyond strange to see the brunette hair and tan complexion. Her freckles were nowhere to be seen. Staring out at her was an entirely foreign woman. "I hardly recognize myself," she commented barely above a whisper.

"Good," Harry stated, his voice jarring her out of her musings.

She turned to him and was shocked to see a stranger's face. "You startled me," she said, holding a hand to her chest.

"I'll take that as a compliment," he said with a quirky smile.

"I thought we'd go shopping for some Muggle clothes first," Harry said a moment later.

"Then why…?"

"We need to Apparate into Diagon Alley and go through the Leaky Cauldron," he explained. "We'll ditch the disguises outside the store," he continued, "and put them back on before returning to the Alley."

"Okay," she agreed as she took his arm. "Let's do this."

He smiled at her and led her outside where they Disapparated. They walked through the bustling Leaky Cauldron and stepped out onto a busy sidewalk of Muggle London. "Where to?"

"This way," Harry said, taking her hand and leading her down the street. "It's just a few blocks away."

As they approached the department store, they ducked into an alley to dispel their disguises. As they emerged Ginny asked, "This is where you did your shopping last summer?"

"Yeah," he replied. "It's massive and literally has everything you could need."

"And this is where you met your – er – friend, right?" she inquired, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"Hmm? Oh, you mean Jessica? Yeah, she helped me pick everything out," he commented. "I was absolutely clueless. I wonder if she's still working here."

Ginny could not help but find his frowning face adorable in that moment. She gave his hand a squeeze and interlinked their fingers. She tried to suppress her nervousness at the possibility of meeting the girl he had gone out with last summer. She was just being silly, really. It was not as if she was worried that he would leave her for this Jessica. But he had taken her out on a date, so he must have seen something in her. Ginny could not help but feel gratified that he had not even considered that they might bump into her.

Sure enough, they were in the store no more than two minutes before a female voice exclaimed, "Harry?" As she turned to the voice, she could easily see why Harry had been attracted to her. "It is you!" A very pretty girl gave a bemused-looking Harry a quick hug. Harry barely had time to enclose his free hand around her back before she was pulling back. "How are you? Gosh, it's been so long. And who is this?" she inquired, setting her sights on Ginny. "Wait, don't tell me. Ginny, right?"

That nearly stopped her thought processes. How did she…? Shaking herself from her thoughts, Ginny extricated her hand from Harry's and stuck it out for the girl to shake. "Yes, Ginny Weasley. It's nice to finally meet you."

After shaking her hand, Jessica turned back to Harry. "Ha! Just a friend indeed," she crowed, giving Harry a light punch on his shoulder. She turned back to Ginny and in a softer voice, almost as an aside, said, "I could see it in his eyes and hear it in his voice, when he told me about that dance he was taking you to. Knew he was over the moon about you."

Ginny's discomfort seemed to vanish, and she smiled widely, taking an immediate liking to this girl. They exchanged some small talk as Jessica talked about her university, and Harry provided some vague responses to inquiries about his boarding school. After a few minutes, they turned to business, and Jessica led Ginny by the arm into the women's clothing section with Harry trailing behind. She was certainly enthusiastic about her job; Ginny had to give her that. It was not long before she was ushered into a changing room.

Jessica was in and out constantly bringing new things or taking back her rejections. Harry lounged in an armchair outside the changing room and provided an occasional opinion, but more often than not he appeared lost as she and Jessica discussed different outfits and accessories. The experience left Ginny a bit giddy. She did not normally get excited about clothes shopping, but she did not normally have such an open budget either. It made her feel slightly guilty for treating Harry's money so lightly, but she quashed the feeling quickly, knowing that Harry would not want her to feel bad about using his money. He was quite adamant on that fact, actually.

A couple hours later, Jessica was ringing them up, and Harry paid what sounded like an obscene amount of money to her for several bags full of clothes. She kept reminding herself that Galleons were worth a lot more than pounds. Even so, she could hardly imagine spending half that amount on something as simple as clothes, but Harry was insistent.

"It was so great to see you again," Jessica said to Harry as she pulled him into another embrace.

"And it was wonderful to meet you," she continued, engulfing Ginny in a hug.

She returned the hug. "It was nice to meet you too. Thank you so much for all your help."

"Oh, it was nothing," she said, waving her hand dismissively. "I hope Harry appreciates some of the _other_ things we picked out," she whispered with a conspiratory wink.

Ginny blushed. Jessica had sent Harry away for a bit and all but demanded that Ginny buy a few sets of rather risqué underwear to go with her more conventional selections. Her mother would be scandalized, but just the thought of Harry actually seeing her in them sent a thrill coursing through her body. What her mother did not know would not hurt her.

"Now, I expect to see you two again before you disappear to that school of yours," Jessica stated.

With promises to make time to see her later in the summer, she and Harry left the store and quickly ducked into an alleyway to shrink the packages and resume their disguises. They shared a quick, light lunch at a restaurant they passed on the way to the Leaky Cauldron before heading into Diagon Alley. Their shopping here was much less of an adventure. She picked up only a couple simple robes before declaring herself finished. To be honest, she was never a big fan of a typical witch's attire. She much preferred Muggle clothing.

As they approached Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, Ginny felt a sudden pang of hurt and regret, remnants of her last encounter with her parents. She suppressed the feeling and took heart as Harry gave her hand a slight squeeze, seeming to understand her silent struggle. Fred and George had nothing to do with what happened, but the reminder of family caused an ache inside of her. Throughout everything in her life, her family had always been there, and while she knew they all still loved her, she also knew that most would not support her living with Harry. Except Fred and George. She knew she could count on Fred and George right now, and that gave her the strength she needed to push away those unwanted emotions and open the door to their shop.

"Greetings, and welcome to – Oh, it's you," the female worker said, her eyes on Harry before sliding to Ginny. "I suppose you want the twins, then?"

"Yes, please, Cameron," Harry responded.

"Hold on." With that she disappeared into the back, leaving her and Harry on their own.

She lifted an eyebrow at Harry who shrugged in response. It would seem this was normal behaviour for the woman. She re-emerged a moment later followed by Fred. "Well, well, who do we have here?" he asked rhetorically. "Got yourself a girlfriend, did you? And you're including her in your business, no less. Must be pretty serious."

She rolled her eyes at his antics but refrained from calling him out with the other girl present. Harry spoke up, "Quite. Shall we?" Verbose as always.

Fred gestured with a flourished bow for them to precede him into the back. As soon as the door shut behind them, he said, "So nice of you to join us, ickle Gin-Gin."

"Our long lost sister!" George exclaimed, rushing into the hallway and embracing her in a hug reminiscent of her mother's.

"We're so happy you're safe," Fred proclaimed, wiping fake tears from his eyes.

"Had us worried sick, you did," George continued.

"That's enough of that," Ginny interrupted, shrugging free of George. "I'm here to help Harry put you through your paces."

Two sets of eyebrows rose in reply. They moved into an empty room that Ginny assumed served as their training area as George responded, "Last I checked you're still underage, Ginnikins."

"Unless you've turned into a wandless wonder like our Harry, here," Fred input.

Ginny surveyed them both levelly. "What do you think?" she asked.

"You might want to be careful how you answer that," Harry interjected. "In fact," he continued, turning towards her after a moment's pause, "I want to see you take on the two of them on your own."

"You're serious, then?" Fred asked.

"Or do you have a second wand?" George added.

Deciding to try going for broke, Ginny built her magic up and extended both arms, willing Stunners to leap out at the twins. Two jets of red light struck true, and her twin brothers were knocked onto their backs unconscious.

Harry let out a long whistle. "Have you been practicing?" he inquired.

Ginny shook her head to clear it of her own surprise. "No," she responded. She had not really cut loose without a wand since Malfoy manor. She had been rather busy with O.W.L.s afterwards. Plus, with the extra scrutiny on her and Harry in particular, they had cut back heavily on their extracurricular activities.

"Well," Harry said, as he walked towards her brothers. "Let's see if you can do that again." He revived the two of them and helped them onto their feet saying, "What have I told you guys about always being ready?"

Her brothers groaned as they regarded her with a healthy respect for her abilities. "Did we miss the class on wandless magic?" Fred grumbled.

"Don't think so, brother o' mine," George replied, rubbing his backside theatrically. "Think we would have actually shown up for that one."

"And taken notes too," Fred agreed with a nod.

"What gives, kiddies?" George asked.

"Where do we sign up for lessons?"

"You don't have time for wandless lessons right now," Harry asserted in his professorial tone. "Let's get you boys up to speed with your wands before we begin worrying about that."

"You're the boss-man," they replied in unison, surprising her. It was not like Fred and George to give in so easily, especially on something that would appeal to their mischievous nature, and she did not doubt that they were considering all the trouble they could get up to – and get away with – if they learned wandless magic.

"So ickle Gin-Gin," George said.

"Care to try that again?" Fred finished for him.

"I thought you'd never ask." The battle was on.

She sent a trio of Stunners at George and spun out of the way of a flurry of curses from Fred. George's shield absorbed all three spells, and she was put on the defensive as his spell-fire joined Fred's who continued to press his advantage. She held a shield in front of herself for a moment before dropping it during a slight lull and then countering their attacks. With the two of them attacking her, she was forced into constant movement, ducking one spell and springing aside another.

She concentrated all her fire on Fred, not wanting to get too caught up trying to bring down the two of them at once. She forced herself not to hold a shield up for more than a moment, lest she allow Fred time to regroup. As she continued to dodge their attacks, she managed to slowly manoeuvre them until they were very nearly in line with each other. With their spells coming from practically the same direction, they were much easier to dodge, and she was able to step up her own attacks until Fred was no longer able to counter.

After blocking and dodging several spells, he finally faltered and fell to a _Petrificus Totalis_. Not knowing the rules of this duel, she did not give George a second of peace to attempt to revive his twin. Her casting speed was significantly better than her brother's, and it was only a short minute later that he fell to a Stunner.

As the spell connected, Ginny bounced on her toes, the adrenalin coursing through her from the thrill of the fight urging her to more action. And it came in the form of a flash of red light from her side. She caught it with a hasty _Protego_ and responded in kind. She may be fast, but Harry was faster. Even with her adrenalin pumping, she could barely keep up with him. It was not more than a minute before she was placed on the defensive. His spells came so quickly, and it was like he could predict where she was going to be before she did.

She would not give up without a fight, though. She dove to her side and tucked into a roll, springing back onto her feet and launching two Stunners before her world went black.

She let out a groan as her eyes fluttered open.

"Are you all right?" Harry's voice asked. She could hear a note of concern in his tone.

"Fine," she grumbled.

"Good," he said. "Because you were incredible." He was very nearly gushing.

She sat up quickly. "What do you mean?" she asked. "I could barely even get a spell off against you."

"Don't be ridiculous," he said dismissively. "That's the best I've ever seen you without a wand. No, I take that back. That's the best I've ever seen you full-stop."

His words brought her to a halt, and it was only then that she realized the significance of what she had just done. In the heat of the battle, she had not stopped to think about what she was doing. It had not even occurred to her that she had never been able to cast spells so effortlessly without a wand. She had improved a lot over the months, but it always took all her concentration to wield her magic without a wand. Throw her in an all-out battle, and she had trouble keeping a hold on her magic. Until now.

"Can you do it again?" he asked. It was odd to see him so exuberant, and she could feel herself perking up.

"Yes," she said, rising onto her feet. "Let's do it again." She looked around the room and found her brothers were still unconscious. She walked over and revived each of them, wonder overtaking her at the effortless way she was wielding her magic. "Get up boys," she commanded. "You're with me this time. It's time we give Harry a workout."

Her brothers fanned out on either side of her as she and Harry locked eyes. He wore a small smirk on his face as he taunted, "Think you can take me, Weasleys?"

She and her brothers thought alike, responding only with spellfire. Harry seemed to expect it and easily danced out of the way of the initial barrage. As she and her brothers kept up their assault, Harry continued to duck, dodge, and weave around their spells. He was playing with them. She brought her other hand up and began firing two spells at a time. She was not yet confident enough to attempt different spells in each hand, but right now the spell was not important. She just wanted to hit him.

She was only slightly satisfied to see him begin using shielding charms. If he was done toying around, that meant the attack was coming. He bolted towards George, who barely managed to sidestep and put up a shield as Harry began rapidly firing at him. She knew George would not last long as Harry continued to fire at him while effortlessly blocking Fred's and her spells with his off-hand. When it looked like George's shield was beginning to buckle, she Summoned him away from Harry's spells.

She let go of the spell and sidestepped his incoming body, reaching an arm out to halt his momentum while she put up a shield in front of them as Harry continued to press his assault with the threat, "I'll get you for that, Weasley."

Somehow, even with three of them, she knew who that threat was meant for. He kept true to his word too, focusing his considerable attention on her. She really needed to learn how to hold a shield and attack at the same time. Even with her brothers running interference, she was stuck dodging and shielding, hardly ever getting her own shots in at Harry. He simply weathered the storm, and she wondered just how powerful Harry had become. The constant light from the spells dissipating in the barrier around him cast him in an unearthly glow only adding to the image.

She almost did not even see the small ball flying towards her before it hit her in the thigh. Damn, that hurt. She ducked and felt another ball whiz by her head. She swore and jumped as a ball smacked her foot, and it was not until the red light was already upon her that she realized she had let her shield drop, and then she knew no more.

******OoOoO

To say that Harry was impressed with her performance would be an understatement. While she hid her true abilities from the rest of the student body, Harry knew she was head and shoulders above any other student save himself with a wand. Without the wand, though, she would have struggled against most of her peers – assuming those peers were allowed the use of their wands.

At least that was the case a few weeks ago. Harry was quite certain that was no longer true. She had performed every bit as well as she ever had with a wand, perhaps better, and that performance was no fluke. She repeated it the next day and the day after as well. Needless to say Fred and George quickly developed a healthy respect for her abilities, although they were working with her as often as against her. Harry may not have access to his training dummies anymore, but the three Weasleys proved to be more than adequate replacements.

The only thing they needed was more space, but he was already working towards that end. Unfortunately, expanding space was turning out to be a rather complex bit of magic. He was beginning to see some success, though, and was confident that in a short amount of time he would be able to create an expanded duelling area for their practice.

It was as he was reading up more on the theory behind such magic that he heard the alarm sound. He stood from his chair and strode toward the map as Ginny rushed in at his side. Two names flashed on top of one another: Parvati and Padma Patil. Going against every instinct in his body, he remained standing at the map staring at those flashing names as he waited for Remus and Tonks.

The seconds ticked by into minutes. He knew the odds were good that with two Portkeys in the house they would be able to get everybody out, but that did not stop his mind from conjuring all manner of scenes of torture for the girls and their family. Shaking his head roughly, he said, "That's it," and took a step back.

"You can't go alone," Ginny protested, grabbing his arm.

Harry turned to face her, frowning. "Why not? I've been working alone since this all started."

"And you're lucky you're still alive," she fired back.

"I've worked my ass off," he nearly shouted. Taking a deep, calming breath, he continued, "Listen, I've given them a chance. If they could, they would have come by now or at least sent word."

"Then let me come with you," she retorted.

"No!" he replied, staring her in the eye. "You're not ready."

"I can help," she defended, holding out her hands. "I don't know why it came so suddenly, but it did. The wand doesn't matter anymore. I can do as well without one as I can with."

"You're not ready," he repeated.

"Harry," she protested, holding onto his arm.

"We don't have time to argue now," he stated forcefully. "I promise we'll talk when I get back."

She stared at him for a long moment before finally letting go of his arm. He leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to her lips and murmured, "I love you." He straightened up and looked down at her for just a moment before Disapparating, barely hearing her as she quietly echoed his words.

He reappeared outside the large Patil home and immediately took stock of the situation. The front door had been blown in, and he could sense three people still in the house. He hoped none were the Patils but quickly hurried up to the entrance in order to find out. He snuck quietly into the foyer and down the small hall, casting a Disillusionment Charm on himself as he approached the trio.

He peeked into the room to find two of the Death Eaters facing him. "He's here!" one announced, while the other cast some spell with his wand that had no noticeable effect.

Harry silently cursed and ducked back behind the wall as a spell blew a chunk off the frame of the doorway a moment later. Harry cursed his stupidity; he knew the Disillusionment would distort if he moved too quickly. Crouching down slightly, Harry jumped back into the opening firing curses. No sooner did his first spell impact a shield than he suddenly sensed a number of wizards appear outside the house. A moment later, he felt a ripple of magic wash over the area, originating from the third Death Eater in the room.

A bad feeling overtook Harry, and he ducked back behind the cover of the wall to avoid the retaliatory spells of the Death Eaters. He reached for his emergency Portkey, but, as he had suspected, it failed to activate. He had walked right into an ambush, and now he would have to fight his way outside the wards. He took one step back towards the front door when he was thrown violently forward, the wall behind him exploding in a shower of splinters.

Cursing loudly, Harry blocked out the pain and quickly scrambled away on his hands and knees back into the foyer. He could feel two Death Eaters pursuing him and staggeringly dodged their spellfire even as four more approached the front door.

As he regained his bearings, Harry glanced through the gaping hole where the front door once stood and saw a few of the new arrivals approaching. All but one wore masks hiding their identities. "Can itty-bitty Potter come out and play," the unmasked Death Eater taunted as she threw a Cruciatus through the opening. Harry dodged the spell, his mind whirling and heart beating rapidly in his chest. He knew he was in trouble. If he tried to fight his way through, he would end up surrounded. Spotting his only other option, he ran to the stairs and took them three at a time. He dove for the landing and rolled to the side as several spells flew past, crashing into the wall.

He stood and returned fire with a pair of Blasting Hexes at the throng of Death Eaters, but the spells were shielded as the first of the Death Eaters reached the base of the stairs. "Poor wittle Potter has nowhere to run," Bellatrix mocked in her sickly sweet voice. "And no wittle doggie to save 'im." Harry's vision blurred in rage as he sidestepped the sickly orange light of a Cruciatus Curse. The Death Eaters were climbing the stairs after him, but he waited an extra moment for Bellatrix to make it up a couple steps before aiming his strongest Exploding Curse on the stairs themselves.

A loud boom sounded, and he was once again knocked off his feet having been too close to the blast. His head smacked harshly against the wall, and he lay dazed for a moment before the adrenaline of the situation got him moving again.

He struggled to his hands and knees coughing from the dust and debris in the air and looked out into the foyer. He squinted his eyes to see through the dust and spied several black-robed bodies amongst the wreckage. Harry stared out at the scene for a moment, his mind feeling sluggish as the realization dawned on him that he may have just killed several of them. Somehow the remorse he expected to feel just would not rise within him. He was spared deeper thoughts on the subject as more Death Eaters rushed into the house.

One of them spotted him, and Harry moved out of their sights cursing as he looked down and realized that his Disillusionment Charm had failed. When had that happened? He entered a bedroom, Padma's if he had to guess. The bookshelf overflowing with books and lack of frilly, girly things gave it away. Harry shook his head harshly at himself, wincing at the sharp pain the action caused. Now was not the time to lose himself to his musings; he needed to get out of there. He strode to the window and shot a _Reducto_ which sent a spray of glass out into the lawn.

"He's coming out the window!" a voice shouted, and Harry had to duck a deep purple curse which destroyed half of the window sill.

He could hear shouts from inside the house as well and knew he had only moments before they would corner him in that room. He was reluctant to make his owl form public, but he knew he was in no shape to continue this fight, and there were still several Death Eaters on the property standing between him and freedom. Just as he was about to change, he felt another two wizards appear nearby and heard another shout from outside.

"Reinforcements!"

Harry cursed his luck, but as he heard spells being fired from outside, he chanced a peek and was surprised and relieved to see Remus and Tonks in the distance trading spells with the pair of Death Eaters outside. While they were otherwise occupied, Harry sent a Stunner at each Death Eater and leapt out the window even as he heard a shouted spell from the doorway. The red light of a Stunner sailed over his head as Harry cast _Arresto Momentum_ on himself to slow his descent. As he fell he sent several more spells toward the only still-standing Death Eater on the lawn. He did not see if any of the spells hit their mark before the ground rushed up to meet him.

When he impacted the ground, he fell to a knee and put down his hands, shouting in pain when he came up with a piece of glass imbedded in the palm of his left hand. Harry staggered to the side before he was even consciously aware of the spells firing from the second story window. Several spells impacted the ground he had just been standing on as Harry stared down at his hand. He yanked out the piece of glass, grunting at the pain as he heard Remus shout, "Harry!"

Ignoring the throbbing of both his hand and head, Harry rushed towards his friends who were throwing spells at the Death Eaters in the window. He kept a shield up at his back and dodged a few spells as he stumbled to Remus who ushered Harry behind the cover of a tree.

"Are you all right?" Remus asked, and Harry could hear the concern even through his fuzzy mind.

"Outside the wards," Harry stated, staggering farther from the house until he passed the edge of the encompassing magic blocking their escape. He turned around and said, "My place." Without giving them a chance to respond, he Disapparated.

His living room materialized around him in a blur of colour and motion that ended when he felt the front of the sofa impacting his side. He slowly slid down to the ground and winced in pain as his eyes began to focus on the ceiling, trying to determine what he was doing on the ground.

"Harry! Merlin, are you all right?"

Harry sought out the owner of the voice, but his search proved unnecessary when Ginny crouched down behind him, sliding a pillow underneath his head. Her hair cascaded around him as she leaned over him. "Where are you hurt?" she asked. "Your hand!"

"Yeah," he replied as she gingerly cupped his injured hand in her own. "And my head hurts. And..." He was interrupted by the sound of two sharp cracks.

"Harry we really need to talk about your – what happened?" Remus's voice asked.

Harry frowned at the question as Ginny responded. "He just Apparated in and toppled right over. He said his head hurts, and he's got a hole in his hand." She sounded worried as she looked down on him. Harry caught her eye and offered a slight smile, though the pounding in his head made the action difficult.

"The hand can be fixed easily enough," Tonks said, kneeling by his side and taking his hand from Ginny. Harry turned his head slightly to look up at her as she waved her wand at his hand. He felt the wound close and the throbbing in his hand ease. "We didn't see what happened to his head."

"The wall hit it," Harry supplied. "Twice," he added with a grimace.

"He may have a concussion," Remus stated, standing at his feet.

"What's the incantation for that?" Tonks asked quietly. Harry frowned at her. "I know we went over that in first aid."

"Harry has some books on healing," Ginny stated, standing up and leaving his field of vision. Harry frowned at her departure and belatedly realized she had been running her fingers through his hair. Now that she had stopped, his head pounded even harder, and he groaned as he lifted his hands to his temples.

"I'll go help her find it," Tonks said and also stood and walked away.

Remus took her place, kneeling down at his side. He laid his hand on Harry's shoulder and asked, "Why did you leave without us, Harry? I thought we agreed to work together." His words were spoken softly, but there was a hard edge to them just beneath the surface.

"I waited," Harry murmured. "I didn't know if you'd be able to get away and help, so I waited a few minutes and then left."

Remus sighed softly. Harry's head continued to pound, but his thoughts also began to clear.

"We need to work out a way to communicate," Remus finally stated.

Harry frowned. "It would need to be something relatively inconspicuous, else you wouldn't be able to do it if you were stuck around others."

"Got it," he dimly heard a voice proclaim followed by the approach of rapid footsteps.

He heard Tonks mutter an incantation but did not catch it. Her wand lightly touched his head, and his thoughts suddenly seemed much clearer as though a fog had been lifted from his mind. The pounding in his head also lessened into a dull ache. He smiled up at everyone and said, "Thanks."

He moved to stand and grabbed Remus's hastily offered hand. Once on his feet he was urged back into the sofa despite protesting that he was quite fine. Ginny immediately sank onto the cushion beside him, and he slipped an arm behind her, leaning into her.

A heavy silence hung in the air before Ginny finally looked up at him and asked, "What happened?"

"It was a trap," Harry responded and proceeded to describe the events that followed. His mouth seemed to work on autopilot as his mind lingered on the image of the cloaked bodies littering the foyer following the explosion of the staircase. He could not help but wonder at the faces he would find behind their masks. Were they older, perhaps from the first war, or were they new, younger recruits? Did they have families – children – who would miss them? Were they all willing servants, or were some under the Imperius or some other form of coercion? Harry's mind was spinning as he came up with more and more scenarios for the people behind the masks.

He felt Ginny squeeze his hand, breaking him from his spiralling thoughts. As he turned towards her she softly asked, "You okay?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, fine. Just thinking."

"We still need to work out a way to send messages," Remus inserted.

Harry turned back to Remus and Tonks, keeping a grip on Ginny's hand. "We could tie it into the necklaces," he said. "They're already tied to the map with a Protean Charm. I can just add a small pendant and make a few small modifications to the spells to allow us to write messages on them. You write on yours, it will appear on the others. But if one of us clears the message, it will clear on all of them."

"You could signal that you've read the message," Ginny added. "Just add a small mark. For Harry it could be a lightning bolt. Remus could be a moon. Tonks… I don't know, a smiley face or something."

Tonks made a twisted face at the suggestion but did not verbally object. "That could work," Harry said. "The last person to read the message can clear it. Gimme your necklaces, and I'll start making the changes."

"How long will that take?" Tonks asked.

Harry raised a brow in question, and Remus put in, "There's an Order meeting shortly."

"It won't take very long," Harry responded. "Most of the spells are already in place. Just needs a few tweaks. Shouldn't take more than a few minutes for each necklace."

******OoOoO

Stepping out of the fireplace, she swiftly surveyed the occupants of the room before taking her customary seat at the table. The room began to fill around her, but she kept her own counsel and allowed her mind to ponder the purpose of this evening's meeting. She hoped it would prove more productive than their prior gatherings this summer. It was like being in a classroom again, the way these adults were acting, shouting one another down to make their points heard.

Arthur and Molly were seated a few seats down across from their two eldest sons, and it was their conversation that managed to draw her from her reverie. "Pardon me, Arthur," she stated. "Did I just hear correctly that your daughter is missing?"

Parents and children alike turned to face her, and Arthur ran a weary hand down his face before answering. "I am afraid so, Minerva. She left with Harry three days ago and did not hear from her again until yesterday. She sent a letter telling us she was safe and not to expect her back anytime soon. It was sent via post owl from Diagon Alley, so we couldn't trace it back to her."

She frowned to herself. "I would not have expected either of them to show such a blatant disregard for you." She was unsurprised at the tears gathering in Molly's eyes as she knew that while Molly loved all her children dearly, she held her only daughter closest to her heart.

Arthur wrapped an arm around his wife and drew her into his chest as he stated, "It is not so simple as that." He sighed deeply before adding, "I daresay they would not have done so had we not pushed them to it."

As Arthur went on to describe the set of circumstances leading up to his daughter's disappearance, Minerva felt herself growing angry. Finally, she interrupted, "Had it not occurred to you that given her experiences in her first year, she might be more sensitive than most to this type of mental intrusion?"

"No," he answered gravely. "I'm afraid in our zeal to find Harry it did not enter our minds."

"Perhaps not yours, but I guarantee it entered Albus's," she retorted.

All four Weasleys, indeed the entire room went deathly still at her outburst. "Do you mean to assert," Molly began, her voice oddly devoid of emotion, "that Albus knowingly deceived us?"

At that moment, the hearth flared green, and Albus emerged wiping the soot from his shoulder. He stopped dead in his tracks as he found every eye in the room focused on him, the silence heavy.

"You have some explaining to do, Albus," Minerva stated.

"I am afraid explanations will not suffice," he returned cryptically. "Might I presume that news of my encounter with Miss Weasley has already circulated?"

"I believe assault might better categorize the experience," Minerva retorted.

Albus bowed his head in remorse as he softly responded, "Alas, you are correct, Minerva."

"You knew, didn't you?" Molly accused. "You knew she would be more sensitive to Legilimency because of the di – because of her first year!"

"I had only suspicions," he admitted. "Had she not been taught Occlumency, I truly do not know whether or not she would have detected the intrusion."

Minerva felt a brief pang of sympathy for him, knowing the hardships and pressures he faced on a daily basis, but that did not excuse his actions. It was past time he started answering to someone.

"If I'm not mistaken, it was your assault on Harry that drove him into hiding in the first place," Remus put in. Minerva knew the claim to be false or a stretch of the truth at best. Harry had no intentions of spending the summer with his relatives. He had admitted as much to her prior to his disappearance.

"I will be the first to admit that my actions in regards to both Mister Potter and Miss Weasley have been suspect lately," Albus acknowledged as he walked to his customary place at the head of the table.

"Suspect?" Minerva challenged. "Your actions have been downright criminal, Albus. The headmaster of Hogwarts attacking his own students. I never thought I would see the day."

"What would you have me say?"

"It is not words we are looking for from you, Albus," Minerva rebuked. "The Albus Dumbledore that I know would never assault a child, no matter the circumstances. I do not know what has become of you, but I strongly suggest that you take a good long look at your actions of late. I do not care if you are the only wizard You-Know – _Voldemort_ – fears," she spat. "I will not follow you should you continue down this path."

Silence rang throughout the room following her pronouncement. Albus sank down into his chair, and Minerva held his gaze until he finally looked down at the table. She did not truly believe it would come to that point, but she could honestly say she had never believed Albus would go as far as he already had.

The fire flared green again, and out stalked her ever-surly colleague. "What has the insolent brat done this time?"

Several voices spoke at once and immediately silenced as the headmaster's voice rang out, "Now is not the time, Severus. If you have nothing constructive to say, I would ask that you say nothing at all."

Minerva arched an eyebrow as she looked from Albus to a momentarily shocked Severus. The man was not accustomed to being rebuked in such a matter-of-fact manner. Albus normally allowed him much more leniency to run his tongue. Rather than reply, Severus skulked to the corner of the room and would have blended right into the shadows were it not for the sallow skin of his face.

A long moment of silence descended over the group, and looking at Albus, she decided that he was not likely to raise the issue that truly needed to be raised. "I believe what we need to be asking ourselves is what we plan to do about Mr. Potter. It is my opinion that continuing the as-yet fruitless search would be inadvisable. It is clear that he is suitably well hidden, and if our best efforts have not produced any tangible results, it is unlikely the Death Eaters would have any greater luck."

"For once I have to agree," Severus input, stepping out of the corner. "We have wasted enough of our time on him as it is."

"Mr. Potter's security is of tantamount priority in this war," Albus intoned. "While I have chosen not to share with you all the words of the prophecy, you are as aware as I of the role Harry must play. Without him, I fear all may be lost. I ask you all to place your trust in me on this. Harry Potter _must_ be brought to safety."

"If Harry's role in this war is so critical," Remus spoke, "then why is it that you do everything in your power to keep him out of it?"

"He's just a child!" Molly Weasley shrieked.

"He's not," Tonks retorted. "At least not any normal child," she added. "Just look at all he's managed to accomplish. Before we learned his true identity, we were all but ready to induct 'Jim' into the Order. Granted, there was some worry about his true motives at the time, but I think now that we know it's Harry any such questions have been answered."

"Tonks makes a valid point," Kingsley agreed, nodding at the Metamorphmagus. "I have not fought with him directly, but from what I have seen and heard, he is as capable in a duel as most Aurors."

"You want to involve a school child in battle?" Molly shouted. "You cannot be serious!"

"Whether we want it or not, he is involving himself," Minerva stated with a pointed look at the nearly hysterical woman. "He has proven himself more than capable of evading our best efforts to deny him, and our current efforts are only serving to further alienate him from us. Perhaps it is time to consider an alternative approach. If Harry is going to involve himself in the war, would it not be better he do so with us than without us?" She swept her gaze across the entire table, ignoring the derisive snort from Severus.

"Potter is nothing but a spoiled child whose arrogance is exceeded only by his luck," Snape spat heatedly, stepping forwarding and banging his fist down on the table. "He flaunts authority at every turn, and you think he will follow instructions? Allow him to work with the Order, and he will put every one of our lives in danger with his foolish stunts!"

Chaos descended following this statement as too many voices argued over each other. For several minutes this went on, and Minerva held her tongue. Slowly the voices began to quiet, but order was far from restored as members continued to quarrel back and forth. She met and held the gaze of Remus Lupin, and, after a long moment, he gave a subtle nod of his head.

She could hardly blame anyone for wanting Harry restricted from involving himself in the war. She felt the same way about him and every other person in the room. What they failed to realize was that Harry would not allow them the option, and they lacked the ability and even the authority to stop him. He was nearly old enough and certainly mature and skilled enough to make the decision for himself. Continuing to alienate him would only serve to drive the wedge between them further. Everyone just assumed that Harry would jump at the first opportunity to join the Order, but if they continued to treat Harry as a child or as a commodity, he may never come around to their side.

She knew Harry already had at least one ally in the Order, and she hoped Remus correctly interpreted her glance. The more allies Harry gained in the Order now, the easier it would be to bridge the gap between them when the time came.

_**A/N: **For updates on the next chapter's progress as well as the first look at the new chapter, visit my website linked from my profile page. Thanks for reading!_


	3. Welcome to the Wizarding World

**A/N: **Thank you to all my reviewers, and a big thanks to Maggie and Christine for their help with the chapter.

**Chapter 3:**** Welcome to the Wizarding World**

"We need to talk."

Harry looked up at Ginny and, seeing the serious expression on her face, conjured a bookmark and closed the text he had been reading, giving Ginny his full attention. He leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees and asked, "What is it?"

"I didn't want to bring this up right away as it was clear that you had _things_ weighing on your mind yesterday." There was no doubt as to the _things_ she was speaking of. He had given her a full account of the battle at the Patils, after all, and she had witnessed firsthand how difficult it was for him to talk about the Exploding Curse on the stairs. Intellectually, he knew that it was foolish to feel guilt or remorse without even knowing for certain that he had ended any lives that day, but the very real possibility had shaken him. That and the fact that he knew he would be forced to kill again before the war was over.

He felt torn. He was sickened at even the thought of killing anyone, yet he was well aware of exactly what the Death Eaters did to their victims. Anyone willing to do such unspeakable acts to someone, let alone innocent children, needed to be stopped by any means necessary. He was unwilling to kill Death Eaters on sight, but he knew that he needed to do whatever it took to stop them. If he was unable to take them alive, their lives were worth less to him than his own, his friends', and those of their future victims.

He noticed Ginny looking at him expectantly and nodded for her to continue. "I need you to understand that I am very upset that you refused my help and went into that situation alone. You nearly got yourself killed while I was left here with nothing to do but twiddle my thumbs."

Her voice was tight and measured with a dangerous undercurrent to her tone, but he was unwilling to capitulate on this point. "When your brothers asked me to train them, I made it clear that I would not let them fight with me until I deemed them ready, and the same applies to you. You're not ready yet."

"I can whip both Fred and George's arses _without a wand_," she countered heatedly.

"So could most Death Eaters," Harry commented, careful to keep his voice even. "With a wand, of course. There's a reason I won't be taking them out with me any time soon."

"Well just what is it going to take before you _deem me ready?_" she demanded hotly, stepping forward and towering over him on the sofa.

"An attitude adjustment, for starters," Harry replied, standing up right in her face. Her mouth opened, but Harry hastily inserted, "I need to know you will follow my lead and take orders without hesitation."

"You _bloody_ hypocrite!" she spat. "So it's okay for the _Great Harry Potter_ to do as he damn well pleases, but the rest of us, we couldn't possibly survive without his leadership."

Harry bit back his initial retort, not wanting to turn this into a screaming match. "That's not what I meant, and you know it." He turned away from her and walked several steps before turning back. She continued staring at him, breathing heavily through her nose. "I don't want to argue with you, Ginny, but you're right that this is something we need to discuss and figure out. I just don't want to do it shouting at each other."

He watched her carefully as she digested his words, and he could slowly see her body start to relax and her breathing level out. "Okay," she said. "No shouting then."

He frowned but walked back towards Ginny and took her hand in his, giving it a gentle squeeze before pulling her down onto the sofa. They sat in silence for a moment before Harry began, "I know how hard it is for you to just watch as the war is being fought by others around you, people you care for, while you're left behind. That's a large part of the reason I started training myself last summer, after all. But I did all of that myself. You have to understand; I brought you into this, Ginny. I've trained you. I brought you here, and when you do go into battle, it will be me that put you there. If something were to happen to you, it would _kill_ me."

She lifted a hand to his cheek and brushed her thumb lightly over his skin. "How do you think I would feel," she responded softly, "if something were to happen to you while I was sitting here waiting for you to come back? This works both ways, Harry, and while you may have given me the tools to fight, it's _my_ decision. This is war, and people are going to die. You're the one that's spent countless hours helping me prepare. You're the only reason I have a fighting chance, Harry. When we go into battle, I will follow your lead. I'd be an idiot not to, given your experience. I want to do this with you, Harry. I want to fight with you, but make no mistake. If you keep pushing me aside, I will find my own way, just like you."

Harry sighed heavily. "I always knew this was coming; I guess I just hoped it would never actually come, you know?"

"So does that mean you've changed your mind?" she inquired hopefully.

Harry frowned deeply. "I will change my mind," he stated, "but not quite yet." When Ginny opened her mouth to respond, Harry held up his hand and requested, "Please, just hear me out for a second." He waited for her to nod in acquiescence before continuing. "First off, you need to learn to Apparate. I can make you a Portkey, but you really need to be able to escape on your own should the need arise."

"Okay, that makes sense," she said while nodding her head.

"Also," Harry said slowly, "I want you to get some more duelling practice with someone besides me and the twins. You've improved a lot since the end of term, but there's no room for mistakes with Death Eaters, and fighting a Death Eater is a lot different than duelling with me or Fred and George."

"You're talking to the woman who's been helping nurse you back to health after your battles," Ginny retorted with a bland smile.

Harry returned hers with a rueful grin. "Right. My point is that the more experience you have beforehand, the better off you'll be."

"Let me guess," Ginny interjected. "Remus and Tonks?"

Harry smiled and offered her a shrug. "Not many other choices, are there? They have a lot more experience and know a lot more spells than I do, and their style of fighting is more similar to Death Eaters than mine, so they should give us a much better idea of how you'll fare in a real fight." Nodding to himself, Harry turned his gaze to Ginny. "I think that's our best bet. We'll see how you fare against each of them and go from there."

"So how long do I have to duel them before I'm ready?" Ginny asked with an arched eyebrow.

Harry held up his hands in a defeated manner. "I don't know, Ginny. It's not as if there's a handy little test that can show me whether or not you'll survive against Death Eaters."

"I know, Harry, but I need to know that you won't keep pushing this off. I need something more concrete than just _'we'll go from there'_ because if you delay me in some stupid effort to keep me safe, I'll end up resenting you, just like you resent Dumbledore."

Harry pulled Ginny towards him and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly. He knew she was right. He would never truly feel that she was ready, but if he was honest with himself, he suspected she was probably at least as prepared as he had been when he had Apparated to Diagon Alley a year ago to save her and Ron from the Death Eaters, or she would be as soon as she learned to Apparate.

He felt her arm snake around his middle and squeeze him back. He allowed himself a moment to bask in her embrace and collect his thoughts before clearing his throat. "I tell you what," Harry began. "After you've duelled against both Tonks and Remus, we'll talk after each session, and if I can't give you a solid reason why you're still not ready, then I guess that means you're ready."

"And if I manage to beat Tonks or Remus?" she queried mischievously.

Harry swallowed. "If you can beat Remus or Tonks, then I guess I can't really stop you, can I?"

"Not without being a hypocrite," she added with a slight smirk.

Harry forced a smile but was not sure how well it succeeded. Ginny reached a hand up to his face and cupped his cheek. "I know this isn't easy for you, Harry, but thank you for not just blowing me off."

"Like you said, I couldn't do that without being a hypocrite," Harry replied. "I just need some time to get used to the idea."

She stroked his cheek with her thumb. "I love you, Harry," she whispered.

Harry smiled without any effort this time, reaching a hand up to tuck a stray tendril of hair behind her ear. "I love you too, Ginny." He leaned in and pressed his lips to hers in a short kiss and then pulled her in for another hug.

They settled back into the cushions still locked in their embrace, and Harry stopped himself from dwelling on the dangers she would be putting herself in. There would be plenty of time to worry over that later; for now, he just wanted to hold her. Eventually Harry removed his necklace and wrote a message to his co-conspirators, explaining to Ginny, "I'm letting them know I need them for some help in training. We can get you started against them as soon as they're able to make it."

She stroked his chest and pressed a kiss into his neck, whispering, "Thanks."

A silence descended over them, and Harry allowed himself to just bask in the moment and in the warm feel of her body beside his. As several minutes passed, though, Harry began to feel an inexplicable need to go somewhere – anywhere – just so long as it got them out of the house.

"Do you want to take Sirius's motorbike for a ride?" he suddenly asked Ginny before the thought had even taken root in his head.

She leaned back and looked at him with an amused smile. "Sure. Do you know how it works?"

Harry frowned and shrugged. "Yeah, I think I've worked it out." Ever since Remus had brought the bike over, Harry had spent a few spare moments each day taking it up and down the drive, teaching himself how to operate it. Actually driving it – and with someone else on the bike with him - would be a slightly different story, but he was fairly confident he had a handle on it.

"I need to visit the loo; I'll meet you out there."

Nodding, Harry went into the garage and straddled the bike. Inserting the key into the ignition, he put his foot down and pulled the bike off the stand, kicking it up. He walked the bike out of the garage and sent the door closing with a wave of his hand. Ginny exited the house a moment later, and he asked, "Ready?" She nodded. "Well, climb on."

She stuck her tongue out at him but complied, climbing behind him and wrapping her arms around his middle. He revved the engine and gave a whoop of joy as they sped into the street.

Not being at all familiar with the streets, he kept their road trip rather confined. He could always Apparate them back home if they got lost but did not want to rely on it. Remus had warned him about performing magic directly on the bike as it could interfere with its inner workings. Sirius had apparently spent a lot of time and research on the additions he had made, and Harry vowed to look for some books on charming Muggle machines – and not only for the bike. As more time passed, the electricity in his home was acting wonkier, and he feared it was only a matter of time before it gave out entirely. He did not need the electricity, but he preferred his home be a mix of Muggle and magical.

Harry drove around the park where they went on their daily jogs. He wound through a few different streets while being careful not to stray far from the only real landmark he recognized in the area. As they drove down a street near the opposite end of the park, Harry stiffened as he picked up two magical presences in the area. The bike nearly stalled due to his inattention, and he quickly fought to get the machine back under control.

"What's wrong?" Ginny worriedly asked.

Looking towards the source of the magic, Harry half-turned his head and loudly replied, "I think there's a magical family nearby." He paused a moment before adding, "Either that, or someone may have found us."

"Could it be the family we saw in the park?" she asked, her voice fighting against the wind.

Harry slowly nodded his head. "You're probably right." He did not recognize the magical presences enough to identify them, but it was very likely that they did in fact belong to the two children from the park. After all, it would only make sense that they lived in the area if they went for a casual stroll along the trails. As they passed by, Harry made a note of the address and kept a mental picture of the house he sensed them in. It never hurt to be too cautious.

OoOoO

"I can tell you with all honesty that I have not had any contact with Harry since before your attack on him," she told him challengingly.

Albus sighed and leaned back in his chair. It had been several days since the Order meeting where she had publicly called him to task for his actions, and she remained every bit as frosty towards him on the subject. Not that he could blame her. He met her stare for a moment before allowing his gaze to wander to the silver instruments around his office. His eyes narrowed in on one in particular, the monitor keyed into the Blood Wards on Privet Drive. Pretty soon there would be nothing left to restore.

"If you intend to continue your search for Harry, you will be doing so without me, Albus," she added, her tone unyielding.

He turned his gaze back to her and nodded his head sadly. "May I ask you about your conversation with Harry following your discovery of his alternate identity?"

He met her searching gaze unblinkingly, hardly daring to hope for her cooperation. "You may ask," she finally stated.

"Pardon my bluntness for a moment," he prefaced, giving her an apologetic glance before continuing, "but you are not one to be easily persuaded into anything. Nor are you one to be easily swayed to look the other way, as it were." Her face showed no reaction to his statements. "I find myself curious, therefore, as to how Mr. Potter was able to engender your cooperation."

"Was there a question in there?" she queried with a rigidly raised brow.

He sighed again, doing his best to temper his frustration. Getting angry would do nothing to endear him to his long-time friend and colleague. "You and I have worked together for a great many years," he stated. "I like to think that you know me as well or better than any other. I also like to think that I am not normally unreasonable, present circumstances notwithstanding. I readily admit to you that the errors in judgment I have made in regards to Harry are multitudinous and date back to the night I placed him on the doorstep of his aunt and uncle. I beg you to help me understand your position because, though I see my recent methods to be flawed, I have great difficulty believing that it is in anybody's best interests, Harry's least of all, for the Order to abandon their search for him."

Silence reigned as he remained locked in her steely gaze. Finally her countenance softened the tiniest margin as she replied, "There are no words that could convince me to advocate a teenager fighting Death Eaters and shirking authority. The argument Harry presented was strong and impassioned, but it was not his words themselves that swayed me, nor would I expect any words to sway you, Albus. It is the man I was swayed by. Harry is no more a boy than Bill or Charlie Weasley, both of whom have already been admitted to the Order. I chose to keep his secrets because he had the conviction to make his choices, the determination to carry them through, and the maturity to take on the repercussions of his actions."

"And besides," she added, the barest hint of a smirk playing at the corners of her lips. "Had I not given him my word, I sincerely doubt I would have been able to stop him from fleeing the castle."

He allowed a brief smile at her small jibe, but it faded quickly as he considered her words. "I dare say you might be correct." Despite his weekly lessons with Harry throughout the year, it was clear that Minerva had kept in much closer contact with him. Or perhaps it was that she was simply more open-minded. There had certainly been plenty of signs, had he been more open and observant of them, to indicate the full extent of the changes in Harry.

He had been surprised and overcome with pride at the growth and maturity Harry had shown over the course of the school year. It was clear even then what had brought about the change. The death of Sirius coupled with the revelation of the prophecy would have been enough to send most adults into a full-blown depression, but for Harry it only served to fuel his determination and allowed him to finally reach his full potential. In hindsight, he should have suspected that it went far beyond his improved grades and work-ethic. He had convinced himself, though, that teaching the DA and training privately would keep Harry busy enough to distract him from the war raging outside the castle's walls.

He had vastly underestimated Harry. His strength and courage, his drive to always do what he felt was right, and most of all his guile. The fact that Harry was able to hide his illicit activities for a full year continued to shock him even now. For five years he had done nothing but exemplify every Gryffindor value, but it was clear now why the Sorting Hat had considered placing him in Slytherin.

"Was there anything else you needed, Albus? I have professors to contact and booklists to finalize before the letters can go out." Minerva's voice broke into his musings.

He considered the question for a moment before shaking his head. "No, Minerva. I fear I have more than enough to ponder at this moment. Thank you."

As his deputy headmistress left his office, Albus shut his eyes and settled back into his chair. Plenty to ponder indeed.

OoOoO

It had become second nature for Harry to reach out with his magical senses as they jogged through the park. Ever since his encounter with the magical family he had been careful to remain aware of his surroundings at all times. In the few days that had passed since stumbling over their home, however, Harry had taken to stretching the area he was able to scan until it grew to reach their home. He took an odd sort of comfort in feeling their magical presences at all times while in the neighbourhood. As long as he was aware of where they were he felt confident that no other magical people would be able to enter the area without his notice.

What he was taken aback to notice, as he paid more attention to his surroundings, was that it was not only magical people he could sense. Muggles felt severely muted to him but were perceptible. It was almost like the way a person looked while moving under a Disillusionment Charm, just that slight shimmer and displacement of the air, just enough to know that _something_ is there. He wondered what it meant. Did Muggles have some small trace of magic in them? He had no idea and highly doubted any studies had been done on the matter given the general policy of avoidance Wizarding-kind took towards Muggles.

As if that was not puzzling enough, he noticed a strange anomaly in Ginny's magic. Unless someone was casting a spell, their magic was pretty uniform; there was not much variation. Ginny's magic, on the other hand, was different. There was variance there that he could not recall having encountered before. He brushed it off at first since there were not many wizards and witches to compare against, but when he started paying more attention to how others felt in Diagon Alley, he quickly came to the conclusion that it was something unique to Ginny.

His curiosity was piqued, but he did not have the time for such intellectual pursuits and so pushed his thoughts on the matter aside. As they arrived back at the house, they went into the garage where Harry had set up a space for them to do some additional physical training. It was not nearly as spectacular as the Room of Requirement's facility, but Harry found that he almost preferred the lack of machines. It forced him to get creative, and he felt that the exercises he came up with did more for his agility than any of those machines.

Over half the floor space was taken up by a mat which served to soften their falls - of which there were many. Since they were so dependent on being able to dodge and move quickly in battle, they devised a series of exercises around that very premise. Most important was the ability to hit the ground and pop back up as quickly as possible whether from their knees, front, or back. They also incorporated rolling both from a standing and crouched position and springing back to their feet without losing any momentum. They were tiring exercises but also somewhat fun.

Finally, both dripping with sweat, they called a halt. Allowing her first crack in the shower, Harry dried and cooled himself off with a wave of his hand. It was nothing compared to a shower, but it would tide him over until Ginny finished hers. He settled down to do a bit of light reading when he heard a muted crack and felt someone appear just outside the house. It took a moment for him to recognize the magical signature. When he did he called, "Come on in, Remus!"

The door opened, and the aforementioned werewolf strolled inside. "That was eerily similar to Albus," he remarked.

"I wonder if he has the same ability," Harry mused aloud. "Or is it just a trick of the office?"

"He'll never tell," Remus told. "Believe me when I say that many have asked."

"Have you ever seen him do it outside Hogwarts?" Harry inquired, finding himself rather curious, especially after his earlier discovery. If the headmaster did have the same ability, was he already aware?

Remus stared off into the wall for a moment before slowly shaking his head. "Not that I can readily recall, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything."

Harry shrugged. "Ah well, maybe I'll get to ask someday."

"That's one thing I admire most about you," Remus commented idly. "Your never-ending optimism."

Harry frowned sceptically.

"It's true. You're at odds with Dumbledore and most of the Order, and yet you talk as if you know it's only a matter of time before everything is all patched up."

"I've never really thought of it that way," Harry replied, turning his thoughts inward. "I guess – well, we're all fighting Voldemort, right? Sooner or later, we're going to have to set aside our differences and work together."

"And you've never even considered any alternative," Remus added as if proving his point. Harry opened his mouth to respond, but Remus waved his comment aside. "So what is it that you needed my help with? And sorry it took me so long to get away."

"It's no problem," Harry assured him. "It's actually not for me but for Ginny. She's getting pretty good, but it's hard to be sure exactly how good when she only has me and the twins to go against, so we were hoping you and Tonks would be willing to practice against her."

"Are you thinking about bringing her into…?"

"She's thinking about putting _herself _into battle," Harry interrupted, trying to keep any edge off his voice. "And truthfully, I can't really say she's not nearly ready, much as I might want to."

"It's never easy watching someone you love rush off into danger," Remus stated. "But you have to respect her enough to allow her to make her own choice."

"I know, Remus," Harry said. "Believe me. After spending a year fighting in secret because nobody would take me seriously or give me a choice, I know all too well. Doesn't make it any easier though."

"No, it doesn't," Remus agreed.

"All we can do is make sure she's as ready as we can make her," Harry added. "So don't go easy on her for even a moment. I want you to throw everything you have at her."

He nodded solemnly. "I will."

OoOoO

Remus quickly raised the strongest shield he could manage, struggling to hold it under the barrage of spell-fire being rained down upon him. He should have known what he was getting himself into when Harry asked for assistance training Ginny. Of course, she had not needed his assistance learning a new spell or mastering some concept. No, instead they needed him to test her abilities and help determine whether or not she was ready to begin taking a more active role in the war.

She was determined to prove herself.

Of that there was no doubt. From the very second Harry said go, she was a blur. He barely finished a spell before he was put on the defensive, unprepared for the speed at which she was casting at him. Her fighting style very closely mirrored Harry's, and that was a high compliment indeed.

Taking a deep breath, Remus dropped his shield and jabbed at the incoming spell, deflecting it aside and returning fire. Side-stepping another series of spells, he weaved his wand through a complex motion, incanting silently in his head. He finished the spell just in time to raise a hasty shield. Taking a deep, steadying breath, he concentrated hard on what he wanted to do. Releasing the breath, he dropped his shield and immediately broke into a run. Nine other identical figures began running in different directions.

Ginny stopped casting entirely, looking from one image to the next in obvious confusion. Her eyes paused on him but moved onto the next, slowly turning so as not to let any one stay in a blind spot for long. He waited for the right moment, when her back was to him, and struck. She noticed the spells at the last moment and rolled to the side, but he kept firing quick, simple spells to keep her on the defensive, all the while directing his illusions. Several came towards him, while others circled behind Ginny.

He kept up the rapid casting while Ginny dodged and returned fire. He was forced to duck and sidestep a few spells, but amidst four of his illusions, her aim was off as often as not. He stopped casting entirely and Apparated himself to the exact spot he was already standing in, causing a cracking sound. He made sure he and the four illusions around him avoided her spells which began to slow as she started looking back and forth between his group and the other group of illusions that had formed to her side.

Ginny began sending spells between both groups, and Remus remained focused on ensuring that none were hit. He kept himself from smirking as he saw Ginny's frustration increasing. He willed another illusion into existence several metres behind Ginny. Even turning back and forth between the two groups, she was blind to it. He directed it to slowly approach her and with a slight flick of his wand added an auditory illusion to accompany it.

Just as he had hoped, the sound of footsteps behind her caused Ginny to spin back to the illusion, instinctively shooting a spell into it. As the spell went right through the illusion, Ginny spun back with a hand raised, but it was too late. His Stunner met her outstretched hand, and she sunk to the ground.

"You had me worried there for a moment, old man," Harry commented with a look over his shoulder as he walked to his downed girlfriend.

Remus dispelled his illusory doppelgangers and walked towards them without comment as Harry Rennervated Ginny and helped her back to her feet. Ginny quietly thanked Harry before turning her attention onto him. "Again?" she queried.

Remus chuckled, admiring her moxie. "In a moment," he acquiesced. "First, I think we should talk about our duel."

He lifted his wand, but Harry beat him to it with a wave of his hand. A small sofa and armchair appeared. When they were all seated he opened his mouth but again was beaten to the punch by Harry. "You started off strong and fast," he said to Ginny, "but you failed to capitalize when you had Remus on the defensive. He just fended off your attacks until he found an opening to launch his strategy. And when he sent all those illusions out, you did the worst thing you could in the situation and froze."

Remus nodded in agreement. "Harry is correct. Now, my plan was not to strike right away, so that moment of indecision did not cost you as much as it could have, but even after you began to regain your bearings, you failed to counter the distraction the illusions provided me."

"I've never seen a spell like that," Ginny remarked quietly. "I wasn't sure how to get rid of them."

"You can never count on knowing the counter to every spell your opponent will use," Remus lectured. "Instead, you must rely on the spells you do know and your own creativity to find a way around any obstacles that present themselves. In this instance, the illusions may have looked solid, but as you no doubt noticed, your spells went right through them as if they were not there at all. Shooting curses as you did into the clusters of illusions was a rather inefficient tactic because I retained full control of the illusions and was able to keep them all dodging your spells. Even if your spells had managed to connect though, the process would have been entirely too slow and not to mention pointless since, as soon as you turned to the next, I could have simply slipped the last illusion into a group until they all became so muddled that you lost track completely."

"Now," he continued, "can you think of a better approach you could have taken to make the process quicker and more permanent?"

He surveyed the couple as each appeared to be contemplating the question. Harry seemed to come to his decision first as his gaze refocused and alternated between Remus and the still-thinking Ginny. After a short moment, Ginny turned her attention back to him and suggested, "I could have shot jets of water into the group. It would go through all the illusions but soak you, making it easy to distinguish the real you from the rest."

He smiled and nodded in agreement. "Yes, that would be a very good approach, although I should warn you that the illusions were charmed to change to match my own appearance and thus would have appeared to be soaked through as well. However, the water would have provided several clues to point you towards the real me as, while every image would appear wet, only I would have been covered in actual water. The sloshing around alone would have given me away." He could see that Harry wanted to add in his two Knuts as well, so he prompted, "Harry?"

"I know this wouldn't have worked for you," he said with a nod to Ginny, "but Legilimency would have allowed you to verify which figure was actually Remus."

"True," Remus replied. "I sincerely doubt you'd find any sort of mental presence in an illusion. However, being unfamiliar with Legilimency, I am uncertain how feasible it would be to perform during a duel of this nature."

"It would be fine for a one-on-one duel," Harry stated. "As long as you're not in a full-on attack mode, it's possible to concentrate enough on other things to continue the duel. It could even allow you to see what your opponent is about to do the moment before he does it, but I'd have to test it to be sure."

Remus nodded his head consideringly. "I think it would be worth it to give it a shot, but," he turned his attention back to Ginny, "I do believe you asked for a rematch?"

OoOoO

Ginny got her rematch several times over. She never managed to beat Remus, but she drew much too close for Harry's comfort on multiple occasions. The old wolf always managed to worm his way out by the skin of his teeth. If she managed as well against Tonks, Harry knew he would have little in the way of arguments against her readiness. The Auror's schedule was much busier than Remus's, though, allowing Harry his peace of mind for just a bit longer.

As the days passed and Tonks was still unable to make time, Ginny grew increasingly frustrated at the delay. Harry kept her busy and taxed her to her limits. In their duels, he was beginning to pull out all the stops, coming at her fast and hard and putting a lot of power into his spells. She struggled to make any sort of headway against Harry, but she was constantly improving, lasting just a bit longer and getting a few extra shots off at him to push him off the offensive. If her time was coming soon, he would have her as ready as he could make her beforehand.

When he was not putting Ginny through her paces, Harry had his face buried in texts. Not for the first time, he sorely wished he had given more thought to the elective classes he had chosen back in the summer prior to third year. He was glad not to have taken counsel from Hermione, but he wished he had avoided Ron's advice all the same. Runes and Arithmancy may not be easy, but they opened the door for some truly fantastic branches of magic. Had he known what they could be used for, he may not have been so hasty to pass on the opportunity.

Now he was stuck trying to catch up on concepts he could have been learning over the last several years. His study of wards had already introduced him to the world of runes, and now his space-expanding project had led him into Arithmancy. In order to make the changes permanent, some fairly sophisticated calculations needed to be made and, based on those calculations, runes needed to be added in very precise points in the space he was to be expanding.

He spent a great deal of time working on this project as he wanted to convert one of the spare bedrooms into a training facility. Going to the twins' shop in Diagon Alley was inconvenient and potentially risky. If Dumbledore thought to connect him to the twins, it would not take long before they took notice of the pair coming and going on a near-daily basis, no matter their disguises.

After reading some examples of expanding projects gone wrong, Harry decided to take every measure of precaution to ensure he made no mistakes in his calculations, hence his study into Arithmancy. He read up on the theories and concepts that the formulas were based on to be sure there would be no missteps. He absolutely did not want the room to implode on him.

Progress was slow, and despite the freedom he now enjoyed, he felt as if the days never held enough time for him. Between the physical and magical training, studying up on new spells, helping Ginny harness her burgeoning wandless abilities, teaching her to Apparate, and trying to teach himself Arithmancy, there was hardly any time left in the day. Though his instincts often fought against the practice, he kept their evenings free of any type of training or studying. He knew that if they spent every waking hour at work that they would end up nutters, and, if he was being completely honest with himself, he simply wanted the opportunity to enjoy his time with Ginny.

She was unsurprisingly receptive to the suggestion. They went out a few times to dinner and earlier that evening he had taken her to the cinema. She had never seen a working television or movie before and had not stopped raving about the experience since leaving the theatre.

"It's one thing to learn about it in class," Ginny gushed as she lay against his chest on the sofa. "Or even to hear Dad talk about it, but I had no idea. That was bloody amazing!"

He chuckled at the realization that he had no idea whether she was talking about the actual movie itself or the technology. "No wonder Dad loves to play with plugs and things so much," she murmured with a hint of awe.

"Well, not all technology is as exciting as a movie," Harry commented.

"And people have those tellies in their homes?" Ginny asked, undeterred.

"Yes, most people do," he responded, kissing the top of her head.

"Do you think we could get one?" she asked excitedly.

Harry laughed and shook his head. "We could," he responded after a moment. "But I've noticed the lights and appliances starting to act up with all the magic around. I think it's only a matter of time before they stop working all-together."

She let out a puff of air and, as Harry leaned forward to peek at her face, he could barely repress a chuckle at her pouting lips. "Tell you what," Harry said after a moment of contemplation. "Tomorrow we'll take a look at Flourish and Blotts and see if we can find anything that might help keep electronics working around magic."

"And then we can get a telly?" she queried, leaning her had back and looking up into his face.

"If we can get the electronics we already have stable then we can get a telly," he agreed. "But our work on that is going to have to come out of our free time," he cautioned. "I don't want anything interfering with our training."

"Yes sir," she responded, and they settled into a comfortable silence. Holding Ginny in his arms, Harry came to the sudden realization that, though there was a war raging and he was at odds with most of the people who should be his greatest allies, he had never felt so content in all his life. He had never imagined, not once in even his wildest dreams, that he would share a home with someone he loved. With a sudden clarity, Harry saw a glimpse of his future – their future – and it was so much _more_ than he had ever contemplated.

Though he knew he loved Ginny, he had never thought about a future with her. Perhaps he had never allowed himself to truly consider the possibility of actually surviving the war to settle down and start a life and family of his own, or perhaps he would not even have known what to imagine had it even occurred to him. But now that he had a taste of it, a taste of what his life could be with Ginny after the war, he felt himself fill with renewed purpose. This is what he was fighting for, not for the Ministry or the Wizarding World or Dumbledore. He would fight, and he would end this bloody war once and for all just for the chance to make this new dream a reality.

Of course that was easier said than done. The Portkeys and the map had been great ideas, but he could not rest on his laurels. The Death Eaters knew by now that his students had a ready means of escape available and knew that he was alerted in some way to each of their attacks. Their ambush had been proof enough of that. Since then, though, there had been no further attacks on any of his students. Through the twins, Harry received copies of the Daily Prophet which featured daily cover stories of attacks on Muggles and Muggle-borns.

While such attacks had been going on for a long time, being in the castle and still hiding in the shadows had given Harry's conscience some measure of rest. No more. There was no excuse now. He was out in the open and ready to fight the war, but he had no way of knowing where the Death Eaters would strike next. He was powerless to stop them. He spent long hours brainstorming alone or with Ginny or Remus and Tonks or Fred and George, all to no avail. The targets were too unpredictable.

Despite the frequency of the attacks, Harry had not endured a vision since Ginny had moved in. He did not miss them at all, but he could not help but wonder if they could provide some insight to help them fight back. But then common sense took over. He had been experiencing daily visions for months at Hogwarts, and all he had learned from the experiences were the pains of sleep deprivation. It was curious, though, that the visions had stopped so abruptly and completely. He could not fathom how, but he was sure it was Ginny's presence that kept them away. Regardless of how it was happening, though, he was feeling well-rested for the first time in months.

Ginny sighed and shifted slightly, and Harry held her a little more tightly in response. She squeezed his arm for a moment and murmured contentedly. Harry smiled and kissed the top of her head. They should really move to bed, but he was so very comfortable that he was loathe to move. Though he was likely to regret it in the morning, Harry conjured a thin blanket and set it over them. "I love you, Ginny," he whispered into her hair.

Her deep, even breathing was the only response he received.

OoOoO

As he lay down his spoon, Bill eyed his brothers across the table warily. He had insisted they wait until after the meal before getting down to business. It was difficult just to arrange everything. Regardless of the fact that Ron was of age, their mum had been extremely reluctant to let him out for the evening. It was only Bill's assurance that he and Charlie were members of the Order and fully capable of looking after their younger brothers that finally broke through. Although he was forced to give his solemn promise that should any situation arise, he and Charlie would both grab their brothers and get them back to the Burrow right away without any unnecessary attempts at heroics.

So now they sat gathered around the table in a private room of the Leaky Cauldron – all the brothers minus Percy. He had been meaning to track down his wayward brother for a while now, but between Gringotts and the Order there never seemed to be any time. He sighed when Ron finally finished his pudding.

Fred and George glanced at each other before simultaneously turning their gazes onto him. "So what's this about then, oh brother mine?" Fred asked. Bill could never articulate how he could tell the two apart, but somewhere along the way he had started being able to pick one out from the other.

"Charlie and I have been doing some talking," Bill started, gesturing to his brother beside him. "When we first heard about Ginny leaving with Harry, we were alarmed but reckoned it would blow over in a few days, and she would come back home." Both twins snorted while Ron just eyed him speculatively. "Obviously we were mistaken."

"Obviously," George agreed.

"Harry seems like a decent bloke," Charlie commented lightly. "But this is our sister we're talking about. Mum mentioned that the two of them have been dating for several months, and we all know that Harry's not exactly been a good little boy this past year."

"Are you worried about Harrykins taking advantage of our ickle Gin-Gin?" Fred asked.

"Or that Ginnykins will be joining ickle Har-Har in his Death Eater hunting?" George finished.

"Both," Bill stated seriously. He paused, briefly meeting each of their eyes. "I know you guys are friends with Harry, and we're not asking you to betray him or anything. We just want to get a better idea of what's going on here. Ron, you're his best friend. You have to have some inkling of what he's up to."

His youngest brother shifted in his seat without breaking his gaze. "If you had asked me about Harry a year ago, I could probably tell you all you wanted to know," Ron said, his voice low and purposeful. "To be honest, lately I've been wondering whether I know him at all. He was always working on something this past year and going for jogs in the morning, and he was so bloody secretive. It nearly drove me 'round the twist. It never occurred to me what he was doing. It still seems bloody impossible that he managed to pull it off."

He was silent for a long moment, and Bill wondered if that was all he had to say when Ron suddenly shook his head and refocused his gaze. "I can't really tell you what his plans are or what is going on. I can tell you this, though; Harry would die before he let anything happen to her. He'd throw himself in front of a bloody Avada Kedavra to save her without a second thought. I don't know what they're doing together, and I don't want to know. But there's not a bloke in the world I'd trust with Ginny more than I do Harry."

The twins jumped onto their feet clapping. "Bravo!"

"Well said!"

"Would you two knock it off!" Charlie snapped.

"Knickers in a twist there, Charles?"

"Or perhaps it's been too long since someone's twisted your knickers?" He turned to his twin and stage-whispered, "I hear he likes that, you know."

Bill shared a long look with Charlie and finally shrugged. This was getting them nowhere. "If you do hear from either of them, will you let us know?"

The twins shared a look before glancing at Ron. All three shrugged at once, and Bill felt a headache coming on.

"Might just do that," Fred finally replied.

"Course I seem to recall being called too young, inexperienced, and immature to be trusted with anything serious. I just can't seem to remember the circumstances," George added contemplatively.

Bill held a hand to his pounding head as they carried on. "Indeed, my good man. I do believe you are referring to when we asked to join the Order."

"Right you are, my dashing twin. How could I forget?"

"Quite all right, you handsome devil. I daresay they may have been right after all."

"Too true. There really is no reason to trust we'll be anything but a bother, wouldn't you say Ronnikins?"

"Oh yeah," Ron input as all heads turned his way. "Merlin knows you two are as immature as it gets. Didn't even finish school, so how can you ever hope to show some responsibility and find decent jobs? And me? Well I'm just a kid, aren't I? I mean, what have I ever had to deal with? Wouldn't know the first thing about battling dark creatures or Death Eaters."

"Well said," Fred acclaimed, slapping Ron on the back.

"So don't worry, oh great and powerful big brothers…"

"Oh for Merlin's sake, cut it out," Bill finally snapped. "As if we have any say over who is or isn't included in the Order."

"They don't even put it up to a vote," Charlie added with a nod. "If Dumbledore says you're in, then you're in; otherwise…."

"So you can hold the fact that we're in the Order against us, or you can be mature about this and work with us," Bill stated. "I don't know Harry well enough to say whether what he's doing is right or wrong. I do know one thing, though. He helped save my life in St. Mungo's. He shouldn't have been there, but if he hadn't then I might not even be here right now. As far as I'm concerned, he can keep on doing what he's doing, and if I meet him in battle, I'll fight right beside him."

"This isn't about Harry, though," he said, brushing a stray lock of hair out of his eyes and swallowing a sigh.

"You can go ahead and stop right there," Fred interrupted, waving his hand back and forth.

"Ginny's not a little girl anymore," George inserted.

"So just keep the big brother posturing to yourself."

"And Merlin help you if you ever try to feed her this load of bull."

"You two seriously don't have a problem with this?" Charlie interjected uncomprehendingly. "Ginny living with her boyfriend? Possibly even going out and facing Death Eaters?"

"Like Ron said," Fred stated.

"We trust Harry."

"And so should you."

OoOoO

Harry took a step back to admire his handiwork; several weeks worth of hard work literally spread out before him. He felt Ginny's arms wrap around his middle and her chin rest on his shoulder and took a long, deep breath. "Wow," Ginny whispered.

Harry smiled widely and turned to press a kiss to her temple. "You like it, then?"

"Harry, this is amazing!" She let go and wandered into the room, spinning in a circle with her head moving around and up to take it all in. "I can't believe this used to be just a tiny little bedroom."

"I know what you mean," he said tiredly, leaning against the doorway.

Harry held his hand up to cover a yawn and rested his shoulder against the door frame.

"You look dead on your feet," Ginny commented, walking towards him.

"I'm bloody knackered," he admitted with a wan smile. "Takes a lot out of you."

"Come on," she said, grabbing his hand and swinging his arm over her shoulder. "Let's get you to bed."

She led him to their bedroom, and Harry followed without comment. When she tucked the covers around him and stepped back, Harry forced his eyes opened and murmured, "Join me?"

She smiled warmly and nodded her head. Harry returned the smile and allowed his eyes to drift back closed. After a moment, he felt the bed shift and a warm body press against his back as an arm snaked around his middle before coming to a rest on his chest. Harry took the hand in his and brought it to his lips. He took a long, deep breath and drifted off to sleep.

He awoke to the feel of her gently running her fingers through his hair and along his scalp. "Did you sleep at all?" he asked groggily.

"A little," she whispered in reply. "I like to watch you sleep."

Harry smiled and turned to face her. He reached a hand up and cupped her cheek, looking into her eyes as he leaned in for a brief kiss. "Thank you," he murmured against her lips. Leaning back slightly he added, "I always sleep better with you."

She held his gaze for a moment before saying, "I've gotta pee," and bouncing out of the bed.

Harry chuckled as he sat up and stretched. When Ginny returned a minute later, he asked, "What do you want to do tonight?"

"Let's stay in," she responded after a moment of thought.

"And research how to make electronics work around magic?" he queried.

Her only reply was a smile as she led him out of the room.

After dinner, which they cooked together, the pair settled onto the sofa each with a book. They spent a couple hours in quiet study before finally putting down the books and discussing their findings for the evening.

The next morning dawned brightly with hardly a cloud in the sky. Harry built up a good sweat as he jogged alongside Ginny, and he was thankful that they worked out in the morning before the day really heated up. They were about halfway through their circuit when Harry felt three magical people pop into existence nearby. He stopped short and swore as Ginny turned and ran back to him asking, "What's wrong?"

"I think," he paused and met Ginny's worried gaze. "I think that Muggle-born family is under attack."

"I'm coming with you," Ginny stated immediately, her gaze openly defiant. Harry opened his mouth to protest, but Ginny spoke over him. "I know where the house is and can Apparate there myself. Besides, you don't have time to wait for Remus or Tonks."

Harry hesitated just a moment before warning, "You follow my lead and do as I say."

She nodded, and Harry grabbed hold of her arm as he Apparated them a house away from the attack. A quick glance confirmed that the front door had been blasted open, and he felt five magical presences inside the house. "Stay behind me," he commanded, taking off for the front door.

He slowed as he reached the front porch and turned back to Ginny. "There are at least three of them. I'll run in first and draw their fire. Use my distraction to take out whomever you can."

Ginny nodded her agreement, and Harry paused a moment to add, "I love you."

"I love you too, Harry," Ginny whispered to his back as he began to creep into the house.

The sound of pained screams greeted their entrance as they quickly and quietly made their way down the hall. He paused just outside the door and glanced back at Ginny for just a moment before turning around and mentally preparing himself.

He rushed directly into the room, silently sending Stunners and Bludgeoners at the three cloaked figures in the room. "Get away from them," he shouted as one Death Eater was thrown into a wall. The other two raised shields to block his spells as Harry placed himself between the Death Eaters and their victims.

Harry kept up a constant stream of curses as he did his best to shield himself and the family from the spells being fired. He banished a footstool into the path of what looked to be a Cruciatus and barely managed to intercept a Killing Curse aimed for the children with a sofa. He stumbled back as a piece of wood from the exploding sofa struck his chest but maintained his feet and, more importantly, his shield. With all their concentration focused on Harry and the Muggles, Ginny was able to send two Stunners into their opponents, knocking them out before they even realized she was there.

Harry walked over to check first on the children when he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. As he turned towards the source, a green light erupted, and without a second thought, Harry lunged towards Ginny, extending his hand and firing off three Blasting Curses before tackling Ginny to the ground. Three rapid explosions sounded as he quickly sprang back to his feet and looked for the attacker. A dull thump sounded behind him, but Harry was too shocked at what he saw to pay it any mind. A hole was blown right through the wall, but that was not the most shocking thing. Around the hole were red splotches that could be only one thing. There was no mistaking it this time; he had killed.

He turned as Ginny rose next to him. Harry grabbed and squeezed her hand as her gaze swept the room. "Oh my God!"

Harry felt his heart lurch as he knew she must have seen the damage he had done. She stepped away from him, but he quickly noticed she was not looking anywhere near the blown-out wall. He turned to follow her gaze and felt his stomach drop. There, on the ground, lay a man with glassy eyes that held no life in them.

The two children shook their father, begging through their tears for him to wake up, but Harry knew that would not happen. Their father could not hear their pleas. He was gone. Harry turned his head and met Ginny's worried gaze before turning back to the family. The woman, who could not be much older than thirty, stood and turned towards them.

"Who – the – hell – are – you?" she demanded in a cold tone, carefully punctuating each word.

He shared a quick glance with Ginny before stepping forward. "I'm so sorry," he began. "We're here to help you. I don't know how they found you, but we came as soon as we knew. I –" he paused, not sure how to proceed.

"I assume you're all magical?" she forcefully interjected.

"Wait," Harry stated, holding up his hand. "You know about magic?"

"We learned of it just yesterday," she answered dismissively. "And now my husband is dead." Tears tracked their way down her face as she continued to stand defiantly before them, staring them down.

"How did you…?"

"A woman came by with a letter," she interrupted. "Said Jonathon was magical and that he'd been accepted to the _most prestigious school of_ _magic in all of Europe_." Harry cringed at her tone but allowed her to continue as she raged at them. "What she failed to mention was the fact that you're bloody homicidal freaks!"

Harry cringed at the word and ruthlessly squelched the emotional response threatening to erupt. Taking a deep, calming breath, he stated, "We're not all like that…"

He stopped as Ginny loudly spoke over him, "We came here to help you! I'm sorry about your husband and for whatever you and your children had to endure, truly, but…"

Harry tuned out of her outburst as he made a frightening realization. "I have to go," he cut in sharply.

"_Harry_, what…?"

"There are more attacks," Harry quickly explained. "They're _all_ being attacked. All the incoming Muggle-borns."

Ginny's eyes widened as his words sunk in. "Stay here," he told her.

"Harry," she began sternly.

"No," Harry interrupted. "You need to stay and guard them. I need to get to Minerva now!"

The second she relented and nodded, Harry Disapparated.

**A/N: **Check out my website linked in my profile for progress on the next chapter and the opportunity to read the chapter a week before it appears on fanfiction sites.


	4. Losing Touch

A/N: Thanks as always to Maggie and Christine for their work on the chapter. Also, thank you to everyone who has left me a review.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The rating on the story is being bumped up to M with this chapter, so if you are under-age or wary of reading anything with such a rating, be warned. There is nothing overly explicit in the chapter, but the themes are maturing, and I felt the change in rating was appropriate. On a related note, if there are those who do not wish to continue on due to this change, please let me know either through email or reviews. If there are people interested, I'll consider posting an edited version so that they can continue reading.

**Chapter 4:**** Losing Touch**

Harry winged his way to the castle, infinitely relieved that his owl senses were telling him Minerva was there. He came upon her office window and was frustrated to find it closed. Flapping his wings hard to stop his momentum from crashing into the window, he alighted on the stone ledge and spied her at her desk as he leaned forward to peck his beak on the glass.

She looked up and slowly rose from her seat and walked to the window. Harry wanted to shout at her to hurry it up but a screech was all he could manage. As she unlatched and pushed open the window, Harry quickly dove into the room and transformed.

"The incoming –"

Minerva let out a startled shout as she turned and trained a wand on him.

"For Merlin's sake, it's me, Harry," he explained. He held up the fringe covering his scar for emphasis. "I've got two animagus forms, but we don't have time for that now. The incoming Muggle-borns are being attacked. Right now."

Her eyes widened as he spoke, and she held a hand to her chest.

"You need to get the Order moving, but first, I need you to give me their locations."

"I have a list of their addresses, but I don't see how that's going to help," she replied.

"I presume you're familiar with Legilimency?" Harry queried anxiously.

"I know of the skill," she responded guardedly.

"If you think of their locations, specifically where you Apparated and the areas around the homes, I can pull them from your mind quickly," Harry hastily explained. "I know having someone in your mind isn't a pleasant thought, but those families are defenceless, and I can get there long before the Order is ready to go."

She nodded her head shakily, and Harry took a moment to take in a deep breath. "I need you to bring forward a visit in your mind. The memories should all be connected, so it should be easy to cycle through them quickly. Ready?"

At her hesitant nod, Harry looked into her eyes and whispered the word, "_Legilimens._"

Scene after scene of meetings with scared and confused and curious Muggles and Muggle-borns played swiftly before him. He barely spent more than a few moments in each memory before moving on to the next, just enough time to be comfortable that he could find the location.

When the last memory faded, he pulled out of her mind and took a moment to steady himself from the influx of information. Minerva still looked slightly dazed, so he stepped forward and put a hand on her shoulder. Her eyes focused on him. "I'll go in the order you showed me, so have the Order to go in reverse if you can."

She nodded shakily and finally found her voice, "Be careful, Harry."

Harry nodded back at her. "Thanks." With that simple sentiment, he strode back to the window and jumped up to sit on the ledge. He looked back and met Minerva's gaze for a moment as his body transformed back into an owl, and he dove out the window. As quickly as he could, he flew to the gates of the school. He landed just outside the castle grounds and Apparated to the first location.

As soon as he reappeared, he could tell there were no magical presences in the area. Hoping that the family was simply not home and that he was not too late, Harry immediately Disapparated and reappeared at the next house. He sensed one magical presence and was fairly certain it belonged to the future Hogwarts student and not to any Death Eater.

As soon as he Apparated to the next house, however, he knew there was trouble. He could feel five magical people in the home in addition to spellfire. Sprinting to the house, he Disillusioned himself as he entered through the ruined front door.

He crept through the foyer, careful to avoid stepping on the broken glass or shattered remnants of what was likely once a vase. He rushed into the room with spells flying towards the black-robed figures. Distracted as they were in their torture, none of them even noticed his spells before they hit their mark. They fell in pairs, Stunned, and Harry removed his Disillusionment Charm as he surveyed the scene.

The two adults stood over their sobbing child with dazed expressions. Harry gasped when he took in the sight of the kid. He was covered in blood, and, from their unnatural angles, Harry presumed that both his arms were broken. When he saw the blood staining the parents' hands, Harry had a pretty good idea of just what had occurred here.

Stepping forward, Harry stated, "We need to get him to the hospital."

The two adults startled and looked at Harry. Slowly their gazes shifted to their son. Harry could see the moment realization dawned. First the father and then the mother blanched at the state of their child, and Harry could see in their eyes that they remembered exactly how he had been maimed.

"I'm going to transport you to St. Mungo's, a wizarding hospital," Harry informed them, grabbing a blood-stained pillow and whispering, "_Portus._" It glowed blue for a moment before returning to normal. "What happened here was not your fault," he told the parents, knowing his words must sound even hollower to their ears than they did to his. "Grab hold of this, and crouch down to press it to your son's chest."

The parents dazedly obeyed, and, as soon as they were in position, Harry waved a hand and said, "Activate." The three disappeared in a swirl of colour, and Harry glanced briefly at the downed Death Eaters, summoning their wands and snapping all four with a quick Cutting Curse. He threw down the remnants in disgust and bound the cloaked wizards in ropes before Disapparating for the next home.

OoOoO

"Out of the ten Muggle families, five were attacked. Two of the families were deceased before any help could arrive. Two families are currently in St. Mungo's: one with severe injuries to the incoming child, who is expected to make a full recovery and one with two adults and three children recovering from exposure to the Cruciatus Curse. The father of the final family was killed during the attack, but the rest of the family was mostly unharmed."

Minerva kept a tight rein on her emotions as Kingsley delivered the report. She felt responsible for the casualties as she had personally visited all of these families. Regardless of the attacks against current students, she had not considered the danger facing the incoming first years, particularly the Muggle-borns. She should have seen it coming; after all, she was forced to submit a list of all new Muggle families introduced to the Wizarding World to the Ministry. It was necessary so that the Ministry had a record of every magical person in the country. No doubt some agent of You-Know-Who's had just waltzed in and made a copy of the list.

Her complacency had cost nine people their lives today, and many others were currently recovering from the injuries sustained in the attacks.

After Kingsley returned to his seat, she swept her severe gaze across the table. "What measures are being taken to prevent any future attacks on these families?" she asked the now silent Order.

Nymphadora openly scowled while Kingsley shifted in his chair and cleared his throat, saying, "The Ministry has provided the families with pamphlets…"

"What are _we_ doing," Minerva interrupted, "to prevent future attacks?" She directed a hard stare at Albus as she finished her query.

"We lack the manpower to adequately monitor their homes," Albus stated wearily. "You'll recall how much difficulty we faced arranging guards for just Harry's home in years past. However," he added as Minerva opened her mouth to retort, "Bill, Alastor, and I will be paying visits to each property to add some minor wards to alert us to any future attacks."

She nodded her head in approval and turned as Nymphadora spoke up. "Maybe we should take a page from Harry's book as well and provide them with Portkeys."

"Portkeys are strictly regulated by the Ministry," Albus cautioned. "I am not aware how Mr. Potter learned the skill, but should the Ministry ever learn of his involvement in their creation, he will likely face serious charges."

"With all due respect, Albus," Remus interrupted, "we are hardly a Ministry-sanctioned group. The whole reason the Order exists is because the Ministry has been both unable and unwilling to take the necessary steps to both protect its citizens and combat You-Know-Who's forces."

"The lad's right," Alastor gruffly agreed. "War's no time for half-measures. Give them Portkeys, and it's one less thing for us to worry about. I'd like to know what else Potter has cooked up." He turned his attention to her and asked, "Any idea how he learned about the attacks in the first place?"

Minerva slowly shook her head as she replayed their brief encounter in her mind. "No, I was rather shocked at his appearance and the news he brought. I never thought to question how he became aware of the attacks in the first place."

"If I may," Albus inserted as she wound down, "I think it likely that this is another case where Harry might have experienced what he calls a vision of Voldemort's doings." That matched her own thoughts, so she, along with many others, nodded her head in silent agreement. "While we're on the subject of young Harry, I believe some of those sent out to protect the homes of the Muggle-born students came into contact with him."

The phrasing and tone made it clear this was a request for a report on their dealings with Harry, and Minerva had to stifle a groan at Albus's unwillingness to let this particular matter rest.

Hestia Jones spoke up first. "He Apparated outside the house I was guarding," she said. "He spotted me right away and nodded at me before Disapparating."

Albus nodded and turned to survey the rest of the Order. Kingsley added, "Potter arrived while Tonks, Remus, and I were engaged with the Death Eaters. He joined the fighting and Disapparated as soon as the Death Eaters Portkeyed away. I don't believe he said a word short of a shout of warning during the fighting." Both Tonks and Remus confirmed his report.

Dedalus Diggle added his own sighting of Harry, giving an account almost identical to Hestia's. Bill Weasley then cleared his throat and said, "As you know, the house I approached had already been attacked and the Death Eaters already incapacitated. My sister was with the family when I arrived, and she Disapparated after a short exchange." His voice was pained as he relayed this information, but he regained control over his emotions as he continued. "Harry appeared later and seemed surprised to see me there. We had a short talk mainly about Ginny before he left."

Minerva was glad that Molly was absent for this particular report as she knew the news about her daughter would have left the mother in quite a state. She immediately felt guilty but could not deny her relief. She did not envy Bill his role in breaking this news to her.

A silence descended over the group following Bill's account. Finally, Albus addressed Bill, asking, "Might I inquire as to how your underage sister was able to Disapparate undetected by the Ministry?"

"Er," the eldest Weasley boy stuttered. His face took on a momentarily vacant expression, and Minerva received the impression that he had not considered this previously. She had little doubt as to the forthcoming answer and was not disappointed when he answered, "She did it wandlessly."

"You are certain?" Albus clarified.

"Yes," he said, nodding his head absently. "She hexed me before she left. I hadn't thought about it, but she never drew her wand."

"Ginny hexed you?" Tonks asked, leaning forward to get a better look at Bill. "What did you do?"

Bill looked distinctly uncomfortable, and Albus cleared his throat before any response could be given. "While I have no doubt the circumstances behind Miss Weasley's actions would make an excellent story, perhaps it would be better served to be told at another more appropriate time. Now, back to the matter at hand…"

OoOoO

"Harry Potter lives at 165 Magpie Lane." He waited a moment before seeing their eyes widen. Smiling broadly, he waved the pair towards the house, saying, "Welcome to my home."

"How the bloody hell did you manage to put your house under the Fidelius?" It was a testament to their shock that his twin had no remark to add.

"I'd been planning this since last summer," Harry answered as he led them into the house. "And there happened to be a couple of books in my family's vault on the subject. I'll give you the proper tour later, but right now Gin's waiting on us." He led them into his bedroom-turned-duelling-room.

One twin let out a low whistle as the other commented, "You really pulled out all the stops, didn't you?"

"Yes, he did," Ginny input with a wry grin. The smile fell off her face quickly, though, as she added, "Our brother is an unmitigated arse."

"Bill?"

"Or Charlie?"

"Bill," Ginny spat.

Harry shrugged when the twins looked at him questioningly. "We each had a bit of a run-in with him yesterday," he explained. "He was not very pleased with our current situation."

"He was channelling his inner-Percy is what he was doing," Ginny scorned. "_You can't live with your boyfriend, Ginny; it's inappropriate_," she mocked. "_What are you thinking involving yourself like this? You're too young!_ Bloody wanker!"

"Needless to say, she wasn't impressed with anything he had to say," Harry added helpfully with a roll of his eyes at the twins.

They smirked at him before turning to Ginny, "Gave us that same speech just last week."

"That he did. Came around asking for any insights we might have into what the two of you are up to."

"Seemed rather concerned about your current living conditions."

"And the possibility that you might find yourself in battle alongside young Harry, here."

"Seemed to think that we…"

"…as your ever-caring brothers…"

"…would go out of our way to assist him in his big-brotherly posturing."

"He and Charles were quite flummoxed when all was said and done."

"Even ickle-Ronnikins joined in the fun."

"Ron did?" Harry queried.

"Oh yes," they replied in stereo.

"I believe his exact words were…"

"'There's not a bloke in the world I'd trust with Ginny more than I do Harry.'"

"Too right, my dashing twin."

Harry raised his eyebrows in surprise. To be entirely honest, he had not given a great deal of thought as to what Ron's reaction would be to all that had occurred since the end of term. Their friendship had been on the mend after the rather disastrous first term, but he had not had much time to stop and think at all this summer. The attacks occurred with such frequency, and his days were crammed with exercising and training and studying. That Ron seemed to approve of the situation rather surprised him and gave him hope that perhaps things with his first ever friend would work out.

"At least that makes one brother who's managed to pull his head out of his arse," Ginny muttered bitterly.

Harry did not know whether to be amused or concerned with how severely Bill's words had affected her. He had expected her mood to have improved by now. Some of his thoughts must have shown on his face, for Fred took him aside while George distracted Ginny. "Ginny and Bill were very close before he left for Egypt. She's always idolized him. Coming from any of the rest of us, she'd have hexed us and immediately moved on. From Bill, though, the betrayal will run deeper."

Harry nodded thoughtfully. That made sense, he supposed. It was not as if he had much experience with the whole family dynamic, but he considered it comparable to the way his feelings towards the headmaster had been turned completely on their head last summer. While he did not doubt that Dumbledore cared for him, just as he knew Bill cared deeply for Ginny, his lack of faith and trust in him had disturbed Harry. He imagined it was even worse for Ginny since Bill was family and because she was still recovering from what her parents had allowed a few weeks prior.

"Let's get to work, shall we?" Harry finally called.

Harry put the twins and Ginny through their paces, taking them all on and pitting them against each other in turns. A few duels in, Harry had just incapacitated Fred and George and was turning his full attention onto Ginny when he felt two new presences pop into existence in his front yard. His moment of distraction nearly cost him as he hastily dropped out of the way of a Stunner and quickly raised a shield to deflect an onslaught of curses from his grinning girlfriend.

Deciding to try a new tactic, he pushed his shield out towards Ginny and saw her eyes widen as her spells began deflecting rapidly closer to her outstretched hand. She jumped to the side and turned her attention away from him for a moment to watch as the slight shimmer of his shield passed the space she just recently vacated and impacted the wall to no visible effect. She was unable to recover from her own moment of distraction, and his _Incarcerous _spell had her wrapped up for him as he strode towards her.

"Got you right where I want you," Harry teased even as he shielded against the Stunner she managed to cast with a flick of her wrist. "Ah ah, none of that, my dear," he said with a smile as he dipped down to plant a quick kiss to her lips. "We have company," he commented as he released her from her binds. Two _Rennervates_ brought her brothers back to consciousness, and Harry strode out to meet his visitors.

"Remus, Tonks," he greeted as he walked into the lounge.

"Hello, Harry," Remus replied at the same time as Tonks' "Wotcher."

Ginny entered, followed shortly after by Fred and George, and greetings were exchanged all around.

"So what brings you two here?" Harry asked when they had all settled.

"Well, for starters, I believe you wanted to see how Ginny fared in a duel against Tonks," Remus answered, while Tonks pretended to buff her nails on her shirt beside him.

"Oh, this we have to see," the twins chorused in stereo.

Harry rolled his eyes and turned to Ginny with a smile. "I must admit I'm looking forward to it as well, though likely for entirely different reasons."

"I'm ready whenever you are," Ginny casually commented to Tonks.

"Why do I get the feeling that this is a setup?" Tonks queried the room at large.

Remus burst out laughing in response and stood up, tugging Tonks to her feet as well. "You're a trained Auror; you should have no problem against a Hogwarts student."

"Pretty funny thing to say when there's a Hogwarts student in the room who could probably kick all our arses at the same time," she dryly responded.

Remus shrugged his shoulders and led Tonks into the duelling room. Harry and the Weasleys followed behind as Remus turned back to him, "You really went all out on this, Harry."

"No kidding," Tonks muttered. "I don't understand where you find the time or the ability to do things like this."

"Nothing motivates you like a ridiculously powerful Dark Lord meticulously planning your murder," Harry drolly drawled.

"No kidding," Tonks repeated as she shrugged out of her robe and handed it to Remus. Harry snorted when he caught sight of her t-shirt. A wolf was howling at a full moon over the caption, 'I prefer wolfy-style'.

"I'll bet you do," Harry uttered when she sent him a smirk.

Tonks winked at him before turning to Ginny and saying, "Show me what you got, Firecracker."

"Oh, you're in for it now," Fred warned.

"Ickle Gin-Gin has never liked nicknames."

"Have you Ginnikins?"

"Especially ones with fire."

"Firecracker."

"Firefly."

"Fire crab."

"Fire slug."

"Fire crotch."

"Fred!" Ginny scolded, her mouth hanging open.

"See what we mean?" George pointed out to Tonks in a stage whisper as Harry barely reined in his laughter. Ginny's face, meanwhile, had heated up to a fiery red.

"Anyway," Harry interrupted, trying valiantly to keep a straight face – and to keep his thoughts from wandering further south – "What say we get this show on the road?"

The twins continued snickering to themselves but obediently followed Harry and Remus to an out of the way corner as the girls faced off.

The pair started slowly, testing the others defences as they circled each other like two predators fighting for dominance. It was as if a switch suddenly flipped as both girls sprang into action. The spells flashed at a furious pace, and while Harry could not help but notice how advanced Ginny had become over the last several weeks, he found Tonks' performance the more surprising. He had seen her in battle before, but he had never actually had an opportunity to stop and watch her duel. Whatever awkward-in-her-own-body clumsiness normally affected her vanished completely as she moved with a fluid grace that few could hope to match. Ginny, fortunately, was one of those few, and the performance that followed was nothing short of breathtaking – and, Harry admitted to himself, somewhat arousing.

He forced such thoughts from his head, though, and concentrated on the fight and on Ginny's performance. As the battle wore on he could see the balance slowly tipping Ginny's way. Tonks began to tire, while Ginny tirelessly continued to duck, dodge, roll, and assault her Auror opponent. While Ginny still struggled to cast two different spells at the same time, she had mastered dual-casting of the same spell and used it to her advantage to wear Tonks down until finally her shield failed. She managed to stagger out of the way of one barrage, but, her fatigue slowing her down too much, she fell to a Stunner.

Ginny ceased her casting and bent over her knees, huffing and puffing as she attempted to catch her breath. Harry turned and saw three faces staring out in disbelief at the sight before them. Finally, Remus seemed to break himself out of his stupor and met Harry's eye for a moment before giving him a small smile and a nod. The two stepped out together, Remus walking quickly to Tonks as Harry made his way to Ginny.

"You were brilliant," Harry commented.

Ginny raised herself up and met his eyes, and he watched as the smile stretched across her lips. "I did it," she whispered. Harry smiled and opened his arms as she launched herself at him, repeating, "I did it."

"Yes, you did," Harry murmured into her hair. He was immensely proud of her but worried. He did his best to subdue the pang of fear in his gut as he squeezed her tighter. "I knew you could."

"I'd ask you where you learned to fight like that," Tonks interrupted as she walked over to them with Remus at her side, "but I have a feeling I already know the answer to that one."

Harry rolled his eyes at Tonks as Ginny extricated herself from his arms to turn and face her. "Harry's a very good teacher," she praised and gave his hand a quick squeeze.

"No doubt," Tonks agreed with a wink. "I might just have to steal him away to the Ministry to give the Aurors some tips."

"Nah," Harry refuted with a shake of his head. "Wouldn't want to give away any of my secrets. Never know when I might need to use them against the Aurors."

"Too true," Tonks agreed with a frown.

"Where did Fred and George get to?" Ginny queried, and Harry glanced around the room to find that they were no longer there.

He met Ginny's eyes for a moment before they both strode towards the door. He heard chuckling behind him but paid it no mind. He loved Fred and George, but he did not necessarily trust them to be in his house unsupervised. They found the duo standing before his map talking quietly to each other. When they noticed they were no longer alone, the pair turned towards them.

"Nice map you have here," one commented idly.

"Now where have I seen something like it before, I wonder," the other wondered aloud.

Harry shook his head. "Might it be that map you gave to me in my third year?" Harry asked, deciding to play along.

"Ah yes!"

"That's the one!"

"Rather limited number of people being tracked."

"Yes, well, the Marauders managed to find a way to tie their map into the wards at Hogwarts. It would be nearly impossible to duplicate anywhere else – at least, not without first setting up some rather elaborate warding schemes."

"No kidding."

"Always wondered how it worked, we did."

"Never managed to make anything like it."

"Guess that helps explain why."

"Go ask Remus if you want the details," Harry reminded them.

"Later, but we're more interested in this map right now."

"Indeed. How'd you get it to target specific people?"

"Signed contract?"

"Close," Harry replied. "It's actually tied into Portkeys. I gave them to all my students at the end of the term. As soon as they touched the Portkey, they became tied to it which allows me to view them on my map and alerts me if any of their Portkeys are used. Technically they could give the Portkey to someone else, but it would always show up as the original person to touch it. It'd be too confusing if the name on the map changed every time someone new touched one."

"Ever think about taking it the other direction?" Fred queried.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"Well, does it require skin contact?"

"To get the name to appear, yes," Harry answered.

"Well, let's not worry about the name for now."

"When you're off fighting Death Eaters…"

"Rescuing damsels…"

"Saving the day…"

"You might slap a couple trackers on some Death Eaters."

"They go wherever it is Death Eaters go…"

"And all of a sudden, you know where Death Eaters go."

Harry was stunned to silence as he stared at the twins.

"That's brilliant!" Tonks exclaimed. "We could finally start taking the fight to the Death Eaters, rather than just reacting to each new attack."

Harry shook his head. "How did I not think of this?" he muttered to himself.

"You can't think of everything," Ginny whispered back just as quietly, snaking her arm around his waist and giving him a squeeze.

Harry cleared his throat to get the others' attention. "They don't work through anti-tracking wards, so we probably won't find any big Death Eater headquarters or anything like that, but even if we can take them in one at a time, it could go a long way towards crippling their forces."

"We might just get lucky," Remus added. "Pure-bloods can be remarkably arrogant. Sometimes they can overlook the most obvious forms of protection because it won't occur to them that they'll need it."

Harry shrugged his shoulders and gave a non-committal, "Maybe." Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Harry turned to the twins. "As long as we're on the subject, hang on," Harry said, quickly running out of the room and into his own. He came back carrying two necklaces and handed one to each twin. "Here you go. Just say _Sanctuary_ to activate them, and you and anyone else you're touching or who's touching the Portkey will get whisked away to Hogwarts' gates."

Two new labels appeared on the map as the pair donned their Portkeys. "Er – I don't suppose you have a stockpile of these?" George inquired.

"I have some extras," Harry stated. "Why?"

The twins shared a look before nodding to each other and turning back to Harry. "Well, we were just thinking…"

"As long as you've got them lying around…"

"Might as well put them to use…"

"Ah," Harry said. "Of course. How many did you need?"

"One for Angie…"

"And Katie…"

"And 'Licia…"

"And Lee…"

"At the very least."

Harry nodded and walked back out and grabbed his whole stash. "This is all I have," he told them as he conjured a box around them. "If you want them to work properly, don't touch the pendants yourselves. You can touch the cords without activating everything."

"Thanks, Harry," they chorused.

"Let me know if you need more," he answered.

After the others had all left, Harry took Ginny out to dinner and a film, ostensibly to celebrate her victory over Tonks. Ginny was not quite as gushing after her second experience in a cinema, but she was still all smiles following the flick. After arriving back at home, the couple decided to retire early, though sleep was not on the immediate agenda. As was quickly becoming routine, Harry and Ginny were already engaged in a fiery kiss before they even made it into the bedroom. Harry eventually backed Ginny up into the bed, and she crawled back into the middle as Harry followed suit. He ended up lying half on top of her as they resumed their kissing with one hand wandering up and down her side while the other became quickly tangled in her hair. It was becoming more and more difficult to put a halt to their increasingly passionate bedtime activities, but Harry's cooler head always prevailed. This night was no different. Finally, thoroughly and frustratingly pleased, Harry wrapped his arm around Ginny and held her loosely against his body as the couple drifted off to sleep.

OoOoO

"Rise, Severus," he hissed to the figure kneeling before him.

"My Lord," his Death Eater responded, rising to his feet but keeping his head tilted slightly down. He always respected that about Severus; he knew his place well.

"You know why I have called you here, do you not?" he queried. He waved his hand dismissively before his servant could even contemplate his reply. "There is a spy among us, and you are in a position better than most to…"

"My Lord, I would never…"

"Do not interrupt me, Severus," the Dark Lord spat. "I do not suspect you of this betrayal, but your position amongst our adversaries lends you a unique perspective. Tell me your thoughts."

He studied his servant intently as the man slowly lifted his gaze. "I am unaware of any spies among your Death Eaters, my Lord. I do know, though, that no other spies report to Dumbledore."

"You are certain of this?" Voldemort demanded.

Severus nodded. "Positive, my Lord. As you know Dumbledore and Potter had a falling out. We do not know who Potter is working with; however, I'm sure he must be receiving help. He could not have accomplished half of what he has on his own. Previously, Dumbledore had suspected that two people were working together, but as soon as one was revealed to be Potter, any further investigation was dropped. I believe if we can find the second person, it may well lead us back to the traitor."

"What of the girl?" he asked. "Could she have been the second?"

Severus shook his head. "Only males were ever seen. I think it likely Potter and the other wizard were using the same disguise to cultivate confusion. I would guess the Weasley girl's involvement is a recent development."

"Yes," Voldemort nodded his agreement. "She would not likely be advanced enough to have been much help. Potter would have needed someone older and well connected to have learned and accomplished so much, but who would have been in such a position to help? Was Potter friends with any students who graduated prior to last summer?"

"I admittedly have not paid much attention to Potter's social network," his servant hedged. "The only people that come to mind are those he played Quidditch with: Wood, Johnson, Spinnet, and the Weasley twins. The Weasleys are the most obvious choice given his association with their family."

Voldemort considered this information carefully. "And do they have the capability to have helped him achieve so much?"

Snape shook his head. "Two sorry excuses for wizards if I've ever seen them. They cared more for pranks than anything. I cannot fathom them being much help to anyone."

"Still," Voldemort mused, "it bears looking into. And the others as well. Is there anyone else who could have aided him?"

"The werewolf, Lupin, is a possibility," Snape offered. "It would not be the first time he gave the boy private lessons. However, he has also been accounted for during the boy's appearances. And as he is staying at the headquarters, he would have been missed if absent too often."

"Are there any others?" he demanded of his servant one last time.

"Not to my knowledge, my Lord."

Voldemort eyed Snape severely for a long moment before dismissing the man from his sight.

OoOoO

Harry nearly groaned as he woke from a particularly pleasant and vivid dream. He inhaled the scent of Ginny's hair and pulled her body tightly against his when he came to several sudden realizations. It came as no surprise that he woke up rather happy this morning, but he was shocked to stillness as Ginny's bum wiggled against him in an equally painful and pleasurable way. Further, when he pulled Ginny against him he realized his hand was cupping something soft and warm and supple yet with a hard point pressing into his palm, and Ginny's own hand was atop his and did not appear in any hurry to let go.

He found himself mortified, embarrassed and incredibly aroused all at once, the latter of which was becoming an increasingly common occurrence over the course of the summer. Somehow when Ginny had first come to live with him he had never imagined how much of an effect it would have on him to have her in such close proximity all the time, particularly as they lay in bed. They had shared a bed several times at Hogwarts, but the occurrences were so few and far between and there were always so many other things going on that he had never really stopped to consider how wonderful and frustrating it could be to share a bed with such a beautiful witch.

As much as he was enjoying the current situation, and he was, he also felt guilty at taking advantage of Ginny as she slept. It was not the first time he had awoken to find himself pressed against her in a compromising position with nothing but very thin pyjamas separating them. Like all the other times, he tried scooting his waist back slightly, but she followed his movement and stayed pressed firmly against him. Next he tried to inch his hand out from underneath hers but found that she had a pretty solid hold of him. Seeing little other alternative, he tried to wake her saying, "Ginny?"

"Mmm," she responded, and Harry found himself uncertain if she simply groaned in her sleep or if she was in fact awake.

"Ginny?" he tried again.

Her hand closed tighter against his, pressing his palm firmly into her breast as she continued to grind back against him, and Harry found desire beginning to overtake what little restraint he had left. "Love you, Harry," she whispered, and Harry buried his face against her neck pressing kisses against her skin.

"I love you, Ginny." As he continued to rain kisses upon her neck and shoulder, he felt the pressure and pleasure building into a crescendo and began to warn, "Gin…"

"It's okay," Ginny immediately reassured as she continued to rub herself against him.

Harry groaned as he felt the blissful release and pulled Ginny tightly against him. She seemed to realize what had happened for she stilled her movements and relaxed back into his embrace. As he began to come down from his high, Harry felt embarrassment and guilt creeping back in. As much as he absolutely loved what had just occurred, he also felt a surge of panic. He had always been careful to be respectful and not to push Ginny, and he feared what she would think of him now after what he had just done. "Ginny…" he began but faltered at how to voice his doubts.

Ginny finally released his hand and turned in his embrace to face him. Wrapping her arms around him, Ginny pressed a short but passionate kiss to his lips and then met his eyes. "It's okay, Harry," she softly assured him.

"Are you sure?" he inquired, feeling like his mind was working rather sluggishly this morning.

She smiled a little shyly at him and nodded her head. "It's only natural. I mean, we love each other, right?" Harry nodded his head, but she went on even before receiving his signal of assent. "So it's only natural to want to show that."

"I know you love me," Harry interjected. "You don't need to do that to prove it to me."

"I know I don't **need** to, Harry," she corrected. "I **want** to."

"You do?" Harry asked, his mind going blank.

"Harry, guys aren't the only ones who get horny," she said and giggled as his eyebrows rose. "Honestly," she said, leaning forward to nip at his lower lip.

"Err – do you want me to…uh…" he stammered.

Ginny reached out and brushed his cheek with her hand. "Honestly, just the thought of that is giving me an absolute thrill." Harry positively beamed at that. "But, uh –" Ginny began to blush and stammer before finally collecting herself and saying, "Maybe we can work up to that?"

Harry smiled widely at her in return. "Brilliant," he assured her and was rewarded with another kiss.

Finally, Ginny broke away and admonished, "Now up with you. Just 'cause you got your rocks off doesn't mean you can slack off your training."

Harry felt heat rise into his face as he struggled to meet Ginny's mischievous gaze. "Er – uh…" Harry swallowed heavily and took a moment to wrench his emotions under control. "Aren't I usually the one dragging you out of bed for training?"

Ginny just sent him an impish smirk and a wink as she hopped out of bed and strode into the loo. Harry watched, a wide smile stretching across his lips as his eyes traced up her shapely legs and settled on her swaying hips until the door shut behind her. He let out a long, slow breath before throwing off the covers and standing up. Looking down he had to stifle a grimace and waved his hand over himself, casting a very careful _scourgify_ on his shorts.

Before long the pair were running side by side through the park, and Harry found his eyes constantly drawn to the beautiful redhead at his side – even more than usual. What made it worse was that Ginny seemed every bit as aware of it as he was. She kept giving him knowing grins, and Harry felt his face heating up in a manner that had nothing to do with his current physical exertion. Tired of being embarrassed, Harry met her knowing smirk challengingly and flicked his gaze down and back up her body, pausing on her chest and enjoying the bounce with every stride she made. He lifted his eyes back up to hers and met her gaze, allowing his eyes one last quick flick down her body as he raised his eyebrow suggestively.

Her face glowed pink, and he smiled to himself at his success in turning her own game back on her. When they started their cool-down walk back to the house, Harry slipped his arm around Ginny's back, his hand loosely gripping her side as his fingers splayed across her stomach. Harry revelled in the softness of her body with the hint of the hard muscles below. "Somebody's feeling affectionate today," Ginny commented as she slipped her own arm around his back.

Harry glanced at her with a smile and a slight shrug of his shoulders. "Can't a guy just want to be close to his amazingly beautiful girlfriend?"

Ginny glowed at the compliment and responded, "Of course he can. Only, if I didn't know any better, I'd wonder what brought this on."

"It's not that out of the ordinary, is it?" Harry queried with a frown.

"No, actually," Ginny admitted. "To be entirely honest, it took me by surprise at just how affectionate you can be."

"So in other words, you're just looking for an excuse to tease me," Harry determined.

Ginny gave him a playful hip check in response. "Can't help it. Besides, you keep staring at me." Her playful tone slipped a bit, and Harry detected a hint of embarrassment or perhaps insecurity as her cheeks stained pink yet again.

He was not quite sure what one had to do with the other but decided to let it go. "Can't help it," he mimicked before dipping down to catch her bottom lip in a quick nip. He gave her a light squeeze as they continued their walk.

When they made it back home, the pair did their stretches and immediately set into their typical workout routine. Harry interrupted that routine, though, when he could not help tickling Ginny's side which turned into an impromptu wrestling match. When Harry ended up on his back with Ginny straddling his hips, the fight in him suddenly disappeared, and, rather than try to throw her off, he pulled her down into a rather exuberant kiss. It was some time before they finally resumed their workout.

Harry took the first shower following their workout as had become habit since he was much quicker than Ginny. He shared a quick kiss with Ginny while wearing only a towel as she passed by him into the door of the loo carrying a change of clothes inside with her. While she showered, Harry quickly dressed and got started on breakfast.

As the day progressed, they began to settle back into their normal routine, though if pressed Harry would be forced to admit to being a bit more distracted than usual. His glances were becoming less obvious, though, so Ginny at least seemed much more able to concentrate on her own readings. The twins were due to meet them shortly after lunch, so they sat down side by side on the sofa to wait for their arrival.

Whatever strides Harry had made throughout the day to regain his focus quickly evaporated as he noticed Ginny frequently shifting at his side as if unable to settle. Whenever he snuck a peek at her, she appeared deep in thoughts that had nothing to do with the all-but forgotten book in her hands. Harry feared he knew exactly what it was on her mind and felt the playful and altogether contented feelings that had been radiating throughout his entire being fade in the face of her apparent doubts.

All thoughts of the twins and their increasing tardiness had completely fled his mind by the time Ginny cleared her throat. "Harry?"

He braced himself for what was to come and did all he could to keep his voice steady as he asked, "What is it?"

She opened her mouth but then hesitated, and Harry tried to project a visage of perfect patience while inside his nerves were absolutely shot. "You aren't planning to go back to Hogwarts, are you?"

Harry opened his mouth and froze, completely taken aback at her statement. It took a moment for him to even fully wrap his mind around the fact that her thoughts had nothing whatsoever to do with their activities that morning. He closed his mouth and frowned momentarily as his brain finally caught up and automatically answered, "I don't know." In all his plans for breaking out on his own this summer, he had not given much consideration to life after the summer. If he did not mend his broken relationship with the headmaster, there was no way he could go back to Hogwarts. "I guess that depends on what happens between now and September first."

She nodded her head absently, and Harry realized she was probably considering her own situation. He wondered what had brought on this line of questioning but then had a much more disturbing question entered his mind. Would she follow his lead? Or was it possible they may have to part ways at the end of summer? Deciding not to pursue that matter until he had heard her thoughts, he pondered deeper into his own situation. "Regular classes don't have much to offer me anymore," he thought aloud. "I want to continue teaching, though." He was surprised by the conviction he heard in his own voice. He felt almost like it was his responsibility to help prepare the students for the war, but, even more than that, he had to admit that he genuinely enjoyed the teaching itself. "What about you?" he casually questioned, not wanting to let onto how much he worried over her answer.

"I don't know," she replied with a shrug of her shoulders. "If you return, I will as well, but if you don't…" she trailed off, and Harry sensed that she needed time to sort out her own mind, so he kept his silence. "I'm not as far along as you in most subjects, but I could get by studying on my own. Plus I'd have you to help me out if I struggle with anything, and Merlin knows I'll learn more about Defence studying with you than at Hogwarts."

"Caldwell wasn't bad," Harry defended mildly.

"True," she agreed. "But I think most of your students would agree that you're better."

Harry felt a swell of pride at her words. "Are you sure you're not biased?" he teased, though there was a hint of honesty in the question that Ginny seemed to pick up on.

"Harry," she said, reaching up and stroking his cheek. "You can be so thick about yourself sometimes."

Harry grabbed her hand and pressed a kiss to the back of her knuckles. "I love you too."

She swatted his arm and murmured, "Prat."

He grabbed her arm and tugged her towards him, causing her to stumble into his lap as he protested, "But you love this prat."

"I do," she whispered, leaning up to give him a brief kiss before settling into his embrace and resting her cheek on his shoulder. They remained that way in silence for some time before she spoke up again. "Things are never going to be the same again, are they?"

Harry had to stop his initial reply to really examine the loaded question. "Once you grow up, there's no going back," he finally replied.

"I looked forward to going to Hogwarts for so many years," she said softly, her voice distant. "In so many ways it has failed to live up to what I had hoped so long for, and yet the thought of not going back there…"

"I know what you mean," Harry whispered when it was clear she was not going to complete the thought. "Hogwarts was a dream come true for me. Even with the Boy-Who-Lived stuff and run-ins with Voldemort, it's the only place I ever truly belonged – save for the Burrow." Harry could almost feel her smile at his statement, but he definitely felt the kiss she pressed to his neck. "But it's only a school," he continued after a long moment of silence. "We have to move on eventually. Whether that's now or after we graduate," he paused a short moment. "I guess it doesn't make all that much of a difference."

Ginny nodded absently, and they sat in silence until he remembered how late the twins were for their training. "Your brothers are over an hour late."

She leaned back from him and checked the time. "You don't think…"

"I'm sure they're just stuck in the store," he replied. "But maybe we should go check up on them and drag them away if necessary."

"All right," she replied, leaning in to give him a chaste kiss. "Up you get now," she said as she stood and tugged him upright as well.

Harry stumbled into her and wrapped his arms around her. "Guess you don't know your own strength," he whispered into her ear.

"Think I don't know a pratfall when I see one?"

Harry planted a kiss on her neck and righted himself. "You can do your usual disguise?" he queried as he waved his hand in front of his face, applying his own glamours.

"Yeah, I can manage," she answered. It took her a moment to get all the charms applied, and Harry nodded when she looked at him for confirmation. He gave her a quick wink before Disapparating. He materialized right outside the Leaky Cauldron followed immediately by Ginny. He grabbed her hand and intertwined their fingers as they began their short trek through the Alley.

As they approached the shop, Harry waved Ginny in front of him and followed her inside. The store was relatively empty, just one customer at the register with the only worker and no signs of Fred or George. He waited until the customer had made his purchases before approaching. "Are Fred and George in today?"

"Oh, it's you," Cameron replied. "They were in earlier but…"

"But what?" Ginny asked, worry creeping into her tone.

"A friend of theirs was killed last night," Cameron answered with a grimace. "I only met her once, but she seemed nice."

"Who?" Harry inquired, already dreading the answer.

"Alicia," she responded with a frown. "I can't recall her last name."

"Spinnet," Harry breathed out absently.

"Yes, that's it," Cameron agreed. "Oh, were you friends with her too?"

"Acquaintances," Harry answered uneasily as he felt a stab of guilt. Only yesterday he had given the twins the Portkeys to hand out to their friends. Had he offered them earlier, Alicia would probably still be alive. He met Ginny's gaze for a moment and saw his own pain reflected in her eyes. Turning back to Cameron, he said, "Can you tell Fred and George we stopped by?"

Cameron agreed with a nod as Harry led Ginny out. "Are you okay?" she softly asked him as the door shut behind them.

Harry froze for a second and shook his head roughly. "I don't know," he answered honestly. He felt numb. He had played Quidditch with her for four years, been in the same house as her for five, and yet he realized that he had hardly known her at all. He had never taken the time to talk to her outside of Quidditch. He had no idea what she had even been doing with her life since graduating. Not that it mattered anymore. Whatever plans or dreams she had were gone now.

"Let's go home," Ginny prodded, pulling him to the narrow alley beside the twins' shop.

Harry nodded, shaking himself from his thoughts. "All right," he agreed. Ginny Disapparated first, and he followed immediately after, appearing beside her in the lounge.

They sank onto the sofa side by side, and when Ginny slipped her hand into his, he absently entwined his fingers with hers. For a long time they just sat there lost in their thoughts. Harry pictured Alicia with Angelina and Katie in the sky practicing their formations, tossing banter back and forth along with the Quaffle.

"After I took over for you as Seeker I was so nervous and scared that I'd never be able to fill your shoes," Ginny spoke, breaking the seemingly interminable silence. "Angelina was a bit stressed out at the time which didn't help matters any, but it was Alicia who took me aside and helped calm me down and really made me feel like a real part of the team and not just a replacement. When I told her that I really wanted to be a Chaser, she insisted I get some practice in with her, and the girls even talked Angelina into letting me take her place at times in practice so that she could oversee things."

Harry could not help but smile at her story and kissed the top of Ginny's head in lieu of giving a response. He may not have any grand tales of how Alicia had gone out of her way to help him, but all three girls had really helped him to fit in on the team in his first year, particularly Angelina and Alicia as they already had a year under their belts at that point. With how intense Oliver was and the twins' rather boisterous attitudes, the girls had all taken it upon themselves to take him under their wings and really made him feel like a part of something special, something more than just a sports team.

At some point he must have dozed off on the sofa because he was awoken suddenly at the cracking sound of an Apparation. Moments later there was a knock on the door. "Come in," Harry called as an awakening Ginny began to disentangle herself from him.

In the door walked two people who were nearly unrecognizable in their demeanour. Ginny ran to give her brothers hugs, embracing one briefly before turning and giving the same treatment to the other. Harry followed behind at a more sedate pace unsure what to do or say. "I'm sorry," seemed wholly inadequate but was the best he could come up with.

"Nothing for you to be sorry for, mate," Fred replied, clapping a hand on Harry's shoulder as he met his gaze with red-rimmed eyes. Harry could smell a hint of firewhisky on his breath.

"Angie, Katie, and Lee are at our flat above the shop," George supplied.

"How are they taking it?" Ginny asked in a tightly controlled voice.

"About as well as you'd expect," Fred told her.

"They were practically sisters," his twin added.

Harry nodded and said, "If there's anything we can do… for you, the girls, her family – anything…"

"Thanks, Harry."

"You should come by and see the girls," George suggested.

"I'm sure they'd appreciate the friendly faces."

"Even if one is your ugly mug." Pained half-smiles flashed across the twins' faces for a brief moment before fading.

He shared a glance with Ginny and silently agreed. In their haste, they nearly forgot their glamours before popping off to Diagon Alley. They skirted around the front entrance of the store and entered a door off the side-alley that led to a set of stairs. The girls and Lee frowned at them until Harry remembered he and Ginny were in disguise. Once they dropped the glamours, they exchanged subdued greetings, and Harry shook his head when Lee offered him a bottle of firewhisky.

Shrugging to himself he said, "More for me, then," and took another swig.

"Us you mean, git," Angelina corrected, snatching the bottle and taking her own pull before passing it to Katie. The twins got their own turns next as they all settled onto the worn but comfortable sofas. All the furniture in the room was mismatched in such a way that Harry had a feeling the twins had gone out of their way to achieve the seemingly haphazard effect.

George offered the bottle to Ginny, who took a small swig before offering it to him again. Harry did not miss her lack of reaction and determined that this must not be her first taste of the stuff. He took the bottle and passed it on to Lee. He had tried firewhisky in the past, his first time being after they took the Quidditch Cup in third year. He nearly spat the mouthful out that first time. He was able to better handle it the few other times he had tried it but had never taken more than a couple shots. He had seen what drinking too much could do to a person and was uncomfortable with putting himself in that situation. Perhaps it was the regular attempts on his life that cautioned him against taking anything that would impair his ability to defend himself and his friends. He would not say anything against the others' drinking habits, but in the off chance that he was needed that night, whether for their sakes or one of his other students, Harry vowed to be ready.

When the bottle came back to her, Ginny just passed it on without comment, and Harry was glad for her restraint. He still was not entirely comfortable with her following him into battles against Death Eaters, but he knew that there was strength in numbers, and he also knew that intoxicated people rarely listened to reason. If she had continued to drink and there ended up being an attack, he likely would have had to Stun her to ensure she did not put herself in danger.

Angelina broke the silence over the room, sharing the story of how she and Alicia first met and bonded over Quidditch. When she finished Katie took up the torch and told of her tryouts second year. That was when she met both Angelina and Alicia, and the three of them bonded almost immediately.

Fred and George delivered their own story in tandem. They had targeted Angelina for one of their pranks early on during their first year, and Alicia was none too pleased about it. She held it against them for most of the term even though Angelina had forgiven them shortly after it happened. It was not until they used their pranking for good to stop a couple Slytherin second years from bugging the two girls that Alicia finally warmed to them.

It had been painful to listen to the girls' halting attempts to get out their stories through the tears threatening to overtake them. Even Fred and George stumbled over their duologue in several places, but none of that compared to the pain evident in Lee's voice as he began his own narrative. He followed up the story of how they first met with another on how the two came to start dating, which was news in itself for Harry. Watching the grief play across Lee's face as he spoke brought the reality home for him in a an entirely new way as he imagined how painful it would be to lose Ginny. He had to forcefully stop himself from pondering the possibility before he ended up doing something he might regret.

A long silence descended over the group following Lee's tales, punctuated by the twins rising when the bottle finally went empty. When they returned each was holding a new bottle, and the rounds continued.

After she had taken another drink, Katie turned to him and said, "Harry?"

He turned his head to Katie and nodded for her to go on. "I know you probably have a lot going on, but, well, after what happened to..." she choked on her words for a moment before continuing, "to 'Licia, it just brought everything home, you know? I don't want to go off to war or anything, but we need to learn how to protect ourselves, right?" Harry nodded his head as Katie rolled her eyes. "Of course you know that, you've been preaching it for two years now."

"Katie," he interrupted. "I'm already helping train Fred and George this summer and Ginny of course. You're more than welcome to join in – all of you. I can train you through the summer at the least and maybe beyond. To be honest, I'm not even sure I'll be returning to Hogwarts." His eyes flicked briefly to Ginny as he said this, and she squeezed his hand in response. "Even if we do go back, though, I'm sure we could arrange something."

"You're not going back to Hogwarts?" Lee questioned in surprise.

"We don't know yet," Harry hedged. "Dumbledore and I aren't exactly getting on at the moment."

"I always thought you had a good relationship with him," Angelina commented.

"I used to, I guess," Harry answered with a shrug. After a moment's pause he decided to add, "I sort of learned how to do wandless magic last summer and have been doing a lot of stuff without his knowledge. He wasn't too pleased when he found out. And then rather than go back to my relatives this summer, I got my own house and warded it so that he couldn't find it or me."

Nobody looked particularly surprised at his admission, so Harry assumed Fred and George must have at least hinted at some of the things he had been up to over the past year. "Are you guys going to be around here tomorrow?"

"Think I'm already too pissed to App'rate," Lee volunteered.

The girls looked to Fred and George who both agreed that they should spend the night in their flat.

"I'll stop by early tomorrow then," Harry began, but at their glares changed his answer to, "- er – make that tomorrow afternoon, and I'll get you all keyed into my wards."

With that agreed upon the subject of dinner was raised, and Harry volunteered to pick something up from Tom at the Leaky Cauldron. He and Ginny left shortly after the meal and spent the rest of the evening cuddled together on the sofa in front of a heatless fire. When they finally settled into bed, Harry was reminded of exactly what it was they had gotten up to that morning. It was hard to believe it had happened in the same lifetime let alone the same day.

OoOoO

As promised, Harry returned to Fred and George's flat and took Angelina, Katie, and Lee to his home in turns to key them into the wards and allow them to familiarize themselves with the layout for future Apparation. When they began their training a few days later, Harry found it surprisingly easy to adapt to the change in routine. Perhaps he had just become accustomed to teaching over the past couple years, but he enjoyed having the extra pupils. Alicia's absence was felt heavily by all of them. Harry could imagine how much worse it must feel to the rest of them, but he thought they were honouring her memory just by being there.

Katie was noticeably ahead of the others, even the twins, and Harry wondered whether that was due to their year off of school or a direct result of Katie's extra year under his tutelage. When he proposed the question to Ginny, she stared at him for a long minute before calling him the most self-unaware person she knew. Seeing the disparity between Katie and the others day after day only strengthened Harry's resolve to make every effort to return to Hogwarts for the sake of his students. He could not help but wonder whether Alicia would have faired any better with an extra year of training and did not want to ever have to ask himself that same question for any more of his students. He owed it to them to come back. They put their trust in him, counted on him to teach them the skills they needed to survive, and he would not let them down without a fight.

The only problem was Dumbledore. While he had expected the headmaster to react poorly to his choices, he had not really expected the man to attack him, and he had certainly not anticipated the assault on Ginny's mind. Harry bristled at just the thought of that particular betrayal but tightly reined in his anger. He needed to think rationally.

Besides the fact that he was still underage, Dumbledore wanted Harry safe because of the prophecy. That was his main driving force. He wanted to keep all his students safe, but he had proven he would do just about anything to keep Harry protected. It all came back to the prophecy. Harry needed to fulfil the prophecy, and so he needed to live long enough to see it to fruition. But there was more to it than that. If he was destined to defeat Voldemort, he should have been trained from a young age, prepared for the eventual confrontation.

Instead, it seemed Dumbledore aimed for the exact opposite. He deliberately placed Harry with his Muggle relatives, hidden away from the Wizarding World and kept ignorant of magic. Even after his arrival at Hogwarts, Dumbledore kept the prophecy secret and treated Harry as just another student. There was every opportunity to tell Harry even a portion of the truth or arrange for some sort of additional training. Nobody would have looked twice at the Boy-Who-Lived being trained beyond that of the average student. Even if Voldemort had been defeated, there were many others who would wish Harry harm. Even after the headmaster finally revealed the prophecy to him, Harry was forced to teach himself and hide his actions. Dumbledore seemed to deliberately leave him untrained, and Harry struggled to understand why.

He mulled over the words of the prophecy. He was supposed to hold a power the 'Dark Lord knew not.' Dumbledore said that power was love, and, if Harry was being perfectly honest with himself, he had not given it much if any thought over the past year. It made some sense in that love was something Voldemort knew nothing of; however, Harry had no idea how he was supposed to vanquish anyone with love. A possibility unfurled in Harry's mind that perhaps Dumbledore did not believe Harry would need to fight Voldemort or his Death Eaters. If love was the power that would vanquish the Dark Lord, would he even need to fight?

Harry shook his head. Regardless of whether or not he needed to actually battle Voldemort, there were still Death Eaters to contend with both in the here and now and in any future confrontation with Voldemort. No matter how Voldemort was to be defeated, he needed to be able to survive until that point. And while fate may have dealt the hand that forced him into the war, Harry chose to join the fight willingly. He refused to be kept in hiding, waiting for whatever pivotal moment Dumbledore was saving him for. Now he only needed Dumbledore to acknowledge and accept that.

Therein lay the problem. He needed to talk to the headmaster, but doing so would be a great risk. It was not enough to just be optimistic about the future, as Remus called it. He needed to make things work. He needed to patch things up with Dumbledore and get on the same page. The attacks on the incoming Muggle-borns made that perfectly clear. Had Harry been involved at any stage of the process, he felt sure he would not have allowed them to leave those families defenceless even if he had to follow Minerva and hand out Portkeys himself. Before he could talk to Dumbledore, though, he needed to have an idea of what to say.

He moved to his desk and pulled out writing materials, intending to put his thoughts to paper. Instead, he found his hand writing the words _Dear Professor Dumbledore_. Well, if he could not risk talking to the headmaster, writing a letter was the next best thing.

OoOoO

Albus was surprised to see the common school owl descend from the enchanted ceiling towards him at the Head Table. Owls addressed to him typically delivered his mail directly to his office rather than during meal times. And most letters were not sent to him from a school owl. That meant either that a school owl was sent out, and the recipient chose to use it to return post to him, or the letter itself came from a source within the school. Given that he did not use any school owls to deliver post, the former seemed unlikely. The latter possibility, however, sounded even more absurd.

Using his dinner knife, which earned him a disapproving glance from his Deputy Headmistress, he slit open the envelope. As he unfolded the parchment, his eyes immediately flitted down to the signature, and he began to rise out of his chair as he read the name.

"What is it, Albus?" Minerva inquired with obvious concern.

"Nothing," he commented, internally chiding himself and retaking his seat. Harry would be long gone by now, if he did indeed enter school grounds to send the letter. Settling back into the high-backed chair, he held the letter in two hands and began to read, ignoring his dinner cooling on his plate.

_Dear Professor Dumbledore,_

_I was told recently by a good friend that I am an endless optimist. No matter our current state of affairs or your actions towards me or even your assault on Ginny's mind, I've always held firm in the belief that sooner or later we would be able to set aside our differences and work together against Voldemort and his Death Eaters. It has occurred to me, following the most recent attacks on the families of the incoming Muggle-born students, that optimism is not enough. _

_It is not enough that we some day put aside our differences. Every day that we spend working against each other gives Voldemort an advantage over us. I have been busy this summer, as you are no doubt aware. Far busier than I ever anticipated. My efforts alone are not enough, nor are those of the Order. _

_I know that you wish to keep me out of the war, away from the fighting. I've done a lot of thinking lately over __**why**__ you are so insistent on that fact. I know the prophecy factors heavily into your thoughts and actions, but I cannot believe that is all of it. I have also been left to wonder why you have never made any attempt to prepare me for my fate in this war. If I am the only one capable of defeating Voldemort, why did you keep me ignorant of the Wizarding World for the first eleven years of my life? Why did you never arrange for any special tutoring or training? Why, even after revealing the prophecy to me, do you neglect to prepare me for what is to come?_

_The most obvious answer is also laughably absurd and doesn't even bear putting to paper. You've worked harder than anybody to counter Tom's actions and influence. The only possibility I have been able to fathom is that you do not intend for me to fight. You told me the power I have that would allow me to defeat Voldemort was love. Obviously, love is not something meant to be used for battle, but I cannot read your mind. I don't know what you have planned or how you envision this battle going. My whole life I have been involved in things that I have barely understood. I've stumbled around through mysteries and plots well above my head with little ground to walk upon. I've been kept in the dark my whole life. I will always strive to do the best I can with the resources I have available, but you've left me with precious few. _

_A wise man once said that in life you will encounter the choice between what is right and what is easy. It would have been easy to listen to Professor McGonagall's assurances that the Philosopher's Stone was well protected in first year. It would have been easy to sit huddled in the Gryffindor common room with everyone else to await word of Ginny's fate when she was taken into the Chamber. It would have been easy to step back and allow Sirius and Remus to take their revenge on Pettigrew. It would have been easy to give up in the graveyard and join my parents. It __**was**__ easy to stand still in the Ministry atrium as Voldemort's curse approached, waiting to be reunited with Sirius. It would have been easy to trust that you knew what was best for me. It would have been easy to trust that you knew what would need to be done and would be there to tell me and guide me through every step of the way on the path to defeat Voldemort. _

_I am not perfect. I will not always choose what is right, but that does not mean I will not try. I wonder if you have ever asked yourself whether keeping me in the dark, hiding me away from the world and the war, is right, or is it simply easy? Was it right to drop me on the front step of the Dursleys? Was it right to hold back the prophecy year after year? Is it right that you left me with no training, no means of truly defending myself from those who would seek to harm me? Was it right to fire that spell at me in your office? Was it right to assault the mind of my girlfriend in the hopes of tracking me down? I do not expect you to be perfect. All I ask is that you try. _

_It is well past the time that we should be working together. Whether or not you believe my involvement in the war to be necessary towards the fulfilment of the prophecy is irrelevant. Fate may have forced me into the war, but I choose willingly to enter the battles. I think if you are honest with yourself, you know that it would only be right to work with me rather than against me. I may not be perfect, but I have proven myself capable, and we need every capable fighter we have._

_I may be optimistic, but I am not stupid. I hope that you have changed your mind, whether by this letter or some other means, but I am not willing to take the chance on faith alone. Hedwig would have provided too great an opportunity for you to try to track me to my home. No other owl will be able to find me until I want to be found. However, I think you will find that Fawkes will be able to locate me should you wish to reply. _

_Sincerely,_

_Harry Potter_

A/N: As always, you can see my progress on the next update and read the next chapter a week early at my website. Link is in the profile. Thanks for reading!


	5. Freshly Turned Dirt

_A/N: First, I'd like to apologize for the length of time this chapter took to complete. To be quite frank, it was a pain to write. I struggled with pretty much every scene. Right now, I'm breathing a sigh of relief that it's finally finished and hoping to Merlin that the next one isn't quite so difficult to write. I'm sure you'll be with me in that hope._

_Anyway, thank you to all those who have reviewed and posted in the forums here. I greatly appreciate all your support and encouragement. Also, I'd like to give a thank you to Christine for her help on the chapter and an especially big thanks to Maggie who has been with me every step of the way on this chapter as I struggled through it. Now, without further ado, I give you..._

**Chapter 5: ****Freshly Turned Dirt**

"Morning sleepy-head," he heard her murmur before feeling her lips press against his.

Harry moved his lips sluggishly against hers and pulled her body close to his, basking in her warmth as his mind continued to awaken along with the rest of his body. He pulled his lips away from hers as he made some startling discoveries. His hand was finding a lot more skin than he was accustomed to, and what fabric he ran across had a strange feeling to it that he eventually deduced to be lace.

He met her eyes and took note of her coy smile. Slowly he brought his hand up and lifted the blanket off their bodies. His eyes travelled down her face and to her chest and froze at what he saw.

"Happy birthday, Harry," Ginny whispered into his ear. It took a long moment to tear his gaze back up to her face and only because her giggle finally broke him out of his stupor. "Do you like it?" she asked. There was a naughty tone to her voice with a tinge of nervousness shining through.

He nodded vigorously.

"Sorry you didn't get to unwrap it," Ginny said, and Harry shook his head vigorously to dispel her of any such notions of apology. "Or maybe you still can." That was when the last of his functioning brain cells went on strike.

They had only recently re-begun their physical explorations of each other. Almost immediately after that first pleasurable encounter, they had learned about Alicia, and it had simply not felt right to continue along as if nothing had happened. That had lasted a couple weeks until they woke up in a similarly compromising position and let their hormones do their thinking for them, but their clothes had always remained more or less in place, and he had certainly never seen her wearing anything like that.

Not that he had much to compare it to, but this was, without a doubt, the best birthday ever.

OoOoO

"What is the status of your work in the greenhouse?"

Neville looked up from his plate and across the table to meet his gran's gaze. "Of the seventeen samples, three are thriving, four are living but only just, and the rest have already wilted completely."

She nodded imperiously, though the action failed to faze him as it had for most of his life. That was just the way she was. "Very good. I had my doubts about all this Herbology business, but as Professor Sprout stated, you have a gift for it that should not be left to waste."

"Thank you." He smiled at the praise and inwardly chuckled at her distinct change in tune as he tucked back in to his lunch. He had been trying for the past two years to convince his gran to allow him his own greenhouse at the manor. She had been opposed to the idea from the very start, citing a variety of reasons including cost and the indignity of a wizard of his standing mucking around in the mud, but he had persisted despite her staunch refusals. Begging and pleading would get him nowhere. If it did not work when he was young, there was no possibility of it working now. She had even resisted Professor Sprout's entreaties on his behalf, and he was greatly amused by the professor's response to his stubborn grandmother even as he felt the bitter disappointment at the professor's failure to talk sense into the formidable woman.

Then he came up with a plan. He had lived with his gran for over fifteen years before he finally began to understand her. She was not one to be swayed by emotions but cool logic, so that was what he set out to give her. He outlined exactly what he hoped to accomplish in his independent summer studies and what he would need to make it possible. He went even further into the realm of sheer theory on where he hoped his research and experimenting would eventually lead him, and how it could gain him respect from the magical community. Augusta Longbottom always responded well to that which would earn the family respect.

He still found his gran's formal nature off-putting, but he felt as if he finally knew how to speak with her without feeling inherently inferior. Perhaps that was just a part of growing up.

"Could I see the results?" she requested.

Neville raised his eyebrows in surprise and had to stop himself from openly gawking at her. Despite her acquiescence to the request and inquisitions into the progress, she had never shown much of any interest in the work itself. Perhaps he did not quite have his gran figured out just yet.

"Sure," he replied automatically, his mind still trying to process this latest development.

"Well, finish up your lunch," she ordered. "You can show me your work as soon as you have had your fill."

He nodded his agreement in a daze and returned to his meal. They finished lunch in silence and set off for the greenhouse. He led the way down the foyer toward the back of the house when a piercing ring shattered the stillness of the air.

"The wards!" his gran exclaimed.

He reached for his wand and turned, finding his gran heading in the opposite direction with her wand already drawn. Neville turned and trotted after her. "Gran!" he shouted in an attempt to get her attention, but she paid him no heed. "I have a Portkey to Hogwarts," he announced. "We should take it."

She stopped in her tracks and turned to him. "And where did you manage to get a Portkey?"

"Harry gave it to me," he answered. "He gave them to all his students."

He saw her eyes light in sudden understanding and wondered at it for a moment before pushing the matter aside. "Very well," she conceded. "I am loath to leave, but I can feel the wards already failing, and Death Eaters never attack unless the odds are heavily in their favour."

Neville blew out a breath in relief and fished the necklace out of his robes. He held it out, and his gran put her hand over his, trapping the Portkey between their palms. "Sanctuary," Neville stated.

He felt a slight pull at his navel that promptly vanished. He looked at his gran with wide eyes. "Anti-Portkey wards," she whispered, her eyes distant. A wave of energy swept past them, and the house shook with a loud boom. The Death Eaters had arrived.

OoOoO

Harry grinned widely as he blew out the candles on his cake, not even bothering with a wish after the morning he had. A round of applause swept across the table as Ginny handed him a knife and proceeded to wandlessly vanish all the candles. He cut the cake and handed out pieces to everyone before digging into his own, briefly meeting Ginny's eyes across the crowded table. Fred, George, Angelina, Katie, Lee, Remus, and Tonks were all there, the presents they brought piled on the table waiting to be opened after they finished the cake. It was perfect.

As he set down his plate and fork, Fred and George yelled, "Presents!" As they reached into the pile and handed him a neon-pink wrapped box, a beeping blared from the lounge.

Everyone froze. Harry met Ginny's eyes, and as one they raced to the map with the others close behind.

"Neville," Harry spoke more to himself than anyone else. He had just written to Neville yesterday, he thought idly to himself, to wish him a happy birthday. He turned around and faced the others, clearing his mind as he did so. He swept his eyes across the group and nodded. "Right. You lot stay here," he commanded, gesturing to the twins, Angelina, Katie, and Lee. They immediately began to protest, but Harry held up his hand. "Until we can trust you to be able to watch out for yourselves, you'll only end up distracting the rest of us." They fell silent but did not seem any happier for it. He met Ginny's eyes as she stepped to his side. Grabbing her hand Harry turned to Remus and Tonks. "Let's go."

He dual-Apparated himself and Ginny outside the wards of the Longbottom Estate and immediately knew something was wrong. The house's wards were no longer there, but a few others hung in their place – most notably anti-Apparation and anti-Portkey. He turned his attention to the house and immediately noted the number of people within and the multitude of spellfire. A soft crack signalled the arrival of Remus and Tonks, and Harry turned quickly towards them.

"Anti-Apparation and anti-Portkey wards," he stated in a deadpan voice. "They're still inside." He let that sink in for a split second before continuing. "That means we can't leave inside the wards either, so be extra careful." He gave Ginny a pointed look, and she nodded her head mutely. "Right, come on."

He set off for the destroyed front door at a run and both heard and felt the others following. As he crossed the threshold, he heard a familiar voice shout, "No!" A pained scream followed, and Harry tore through the manor as quickly as he could, paying little attention to the route he took as he focused on the magical auras to guide him. The scream cut off suddenly as Harry came upon an open set of double doors leading into what appeared to be a grand hall. The sound of jeering voices drifted out into the hallway as he approached the doorway.

He held up a hand to the others who were just now catching up to him and Disillusioned himself. Peeking inside, he spotted a knot of about a dozen Death Eaters at the far end of the room hovering over a fallen form. A second body lay forgotten near the group, and Harry immediately recognized her as Neville's grandmother. He began to make out the words of the Death Eaters, taunting Neville about his parents and grandmother. Harry stuck his head back out the door and whispered to his companions, "Disillusion yourselves and get into position, but wait for my signal."

Without waiting for a response, Harry turned and held a silencing spell around himself to mask the sound of both his footsteps and his breathing as he ran towards the group of Death Eaters.

"When we're through with you, they'll give you a nice bed right beside your parents," one voice jeered.

"_Crucio_," another voice called. Once again, Neville's screams echoed throughout the house.

Harry fought the urge to rush as he began to circle around into the line of sight of the Death Eaters. They were distracted by their torture, but he did not want to be too obvious and risk giving himself away. Neville was in a vulnerable position, and he needed to get his friend out of their before any permanent damage could be done.

As soon as he got a good angle, Harry sent a Concussive Curse right into the figure holding the wand on Neville. He was close enough that none of the Death Eaters were able to react in time to the sudden burst of spell-fire. A silent _Accio_ pulled Neville away from the Death Eaters right as the curse struck, erupting in a blast that left his ears ringing as the semicircle of Death Eaters were all knocked several paces back. The target of his curse was not so lucky. He was lifted clean off his feet and landed hard on his back, his head slapping against the marble floor. He did not rise.

The blast, more bark than bite, gave him the precious seconds he needed to pull Neville away from danger. The others began casting spells moments after the blast while the Death Eaters struggled to recover their wits. Harry spotted another pair of double doors at this end of the room and blasted them open, pulling Neville out into the hall. That would at least afford him a modicum of safety. As he turned back into the room, he was forced to duck a Killing Curse and began a rapid fire of curses in retaliation.

He was kept in a perpetual state of motion to avoid the curses being fired at him from a duo of Death Eaters. Their propensity for Unforgivables left Harry with no choice but to dodge rather than shield and kept him on the defensive as he worked out a strategy. His constant movement all but nullified the advantages of the Disillusionment Charm, but he was left with no other option.

"Behind you," an unfamiliar voice called out. One of his opponents turned to quickly shield himself from a pair of spells, and Harry used the brief interruption to press his advantage. He sent a wide burst of flames at the distracted Death Eater, forcing him to form a hasty shield as he turned back to Harry. While he was blinded by the fire encompassing his shield, Harry followed up with a series of high-powered Blasting Curses. The Death Eater was smart enough to keep his shield up, but Harry attacked relentlessly as he sidestepped a Cruciatus. He began mixing Cutters, Stunners, and Bludgeoners into the mix. Ducking an unknown purple curse, Harry slipped a Hammer into his stream of curses. It was a pretty harmless spell on its own, feeling like little more than a solid punch should one hit you. When it encountered a shield, however, it had a rather interesting effect.

Mixed in with his other spells, the distinctive, deep purple of the hex, slammed into the Death Eater's shield, jarring the man's arm back with a painful pop. Harry's follow-up _Everbero_ knocked him back into the wall where he slumped down, unconscious.

Rolling out of the way of another Killing Curse, Harry began trading spells with his remaining foe as he tried to take in the rest of the battle. Ginny, Remus, and Tonks were all still Disillusioned as far as he could tell, making it difficult to follow the rest of the action, but only four Death Eaters remained standing.

With only one Death Eater concentrating on Harry, he was able to hold the offensive, while his opponent was forced to hide behind a shield. No shield could last forever, though, and Harry had much more power and endurance at his beck and call. It was only a matter of time before the Death Eater faltered and fell to Harry's follow-up Stunner. Another Death Eater had fallen while he was distracted, and the remaining two were just bolting out of the room as he turned. Luckily, they came out the opposite door he had pulled Neville to and were heading in the opposite direction.

Just as he was about to give chase, Remus' voice stopped him. "Don't bother going after them." The man cancelled his Disillusionment Charm and reappeared before him, and the two girls quickly followed suit. Harry gave Ginny a quick, relieved smile as Remus continued. "While you were in such a rush to be off, Tonks and I remembered to grab some of those trackers you made."

"And I just so happened to stick them to the hem of their robes," Tonks put in.

Ginny approached him, and he gratefully took her outstretched hand in his as a shuffling noise drew his attention. He spun quickly, putting himself in front of Ginny, and holding out his hand ready to attack. Neville was leaning heavily against the doorframe as his eyes took in the state of the room. His gaze stopped on his gran, and Harry received the distinct impression that the world for Neville had narrowed to the very spot where his gran lay. He was so focused on her body that the rest of them may as well have not existed.

Finally, Neville pushed himself off the doorframe and began staggering towards her body. He dropped to his knees at her side as Harry stood torn, unsure if he should interrupt Neville's reverie or let him have a few minutes.

Finally, after a long moment, Harry walked over to Neville and placed a hand on his shoulder, saying, "I'm sorry, Neville." The words sounded weak and hollow as soon as they left his mouth, but he knew there was nothing else he could say.

Neville looked over his shoulder and shook his head. "You did all you could. Thanks – for coming, for saving me."

Harry just nodded his head.

"They put up anti-Portkey wards," Neville stated as he turned back to his gran. "We tried to escape using your Portkey, but…" he trailed off and reached out to grip her hand. Harry turned away for a moment, but he did not want to leave his friend alone. Neville needed his friends now more than ever. He stood by Neville's side and gave his shoulder a comforting squeeze as his friend said goodbye to his grandmother, the woman who had raised him.

A series of cracking sounds drew his attention, and he turned his head to see Ginny standing over a pile of broken wands. She met his gaze for a moment, and Harry could see the compassion shining in her eyes as she took in Neville kneeling over his gran. Remus and Tonks came up beside Ginny a moment later, and Harry saw that they had all the Death Eaters bound in ropes and lined up.

"We need to send a Patronus to Dumbledore," Remus stated uneasily after a moment.

Harry nodded his head and turned back to Neville, giving his shoulder one last squeeze before he let go. Neville leaned down close to his gran, and Harry looked away to give him a moment of at least semi-privacy. Neville stood a moment later and turned to face everyone.

"Ginny," he greeted solemnly, "Professor Lupin, and…"

"Tonks."

"Tonks," Neville added with a nod. "Thank you."

Ginny waved his words away and rushed forward to envelop him in her warm embrace. "I'm so sorry, Neville," Harry heard her whisper.

Neville did not reply as far as Harry could hear, but he returned the hug and took a moment to centre himself as Ginny stepped back and to Harry's side. Harry took her hand in his as he watched his friend struggling with his emotions.

"Do you have any relatives you can stay with?" Remus asked when it looked like Neville was back in control.

"Well, there's my Great Uncle Algie," Neville began. "But I'm not sure that would be a good idea. I –"

Harry squeezed Ginny's hand and shared a quick glance with her. She seemed to read his intentions and nodded her head with a small smile. "You can stay with us," he interjected. Neville stopped talking abruptly and turned to Harry with a look of surprise. "I bought a house, and there's a spare bedroom. We never use it. It's yours if you want it."

"At least stay with us for a few days," Ginny added when Neville did not immediately reply. "You can decide what you want to do for the rest of the summer after that."

"Thank you," he stated, and Harry could see that he was feeling overwhelmed at the moment.

He just nodded in reply. "Anytime, mate. That's what friends are for." He turned back to Remus and Tonks. "We have to get out of the wards before we can leave, so give us a minute before you call in the cavalry."

"What about my gran?" Neville asked, turning back to look at her body.

"Don't worry," Remus replied. "We'll make sure she's taken care of, and we'll be in touch soon so that arrangements can be made."

"Thanks, Professor."

Remus just nodded as Harry led Ginny and Neville out of the house and beyond the wards. Taking a moment to ensure no one else was around, Harry stated, "Harry Potter lives at 165 Magpie Lane."

"What?"

"Just repeat that in your mind," Harry explained. He gripped Neville's shoulder with one hand and still held Ginny's hand in the other as he Apparated them all to his home.

They arrived home to an anxious group of people who were quite relieved to see them. The festive mood that greeted their return died quickly as the others learned the news about Neville's gran. Harry gave Neville the quick tour ending at the spare bedroom where Neville would be sleeping. He tried to convince Neville to join the rest of them out in the lounge, but Neville begged off saying he was tired and just wanted some time to himself. Not wanting to push, Harry nodded his acceptance.

When he returned to the group, Harry first checked the map for any signs of the two Death Eaters that got away. When he could find no trace of them, Harry settled down on the sofa beside Ginny and with her help gave a brief account of the battle to the others. "Well, this is utterly morbid," Ginny inserted into the silence following their recap. She pulled back from where she was cuddled next to Harry and turned to face him. "I know this probably isn't the right time for it, but you still have a pile of presents to open, and it won't be your birthday for much longer."

Harry frowned as he looked from Ginny to his other assembled guests. He fought down his initial instinct to refuse. They had gone to the trouble and expense of getting him gifts. The least he could do was open them. "All right."

The mood was subdued for a birthday party. Even Fred and George were relatively well-behaved – or at least relatively quiet in their shenanigans. Harry thanked them all profusely as they left for the evening with assurances that their training would resume on schedule the next day.

When their guests had all left, Harry walked over to the door to Neville's room and hovered for a moment debating whether or not to check in with him before ultimately walking back to the sofa and sinking down next to Ginny. It was always nice to have friends to talk to, but he also knew that he often preferred solitude at a time like this – especially when the wound was so fresh. He would give Neville tonight, if that is what his friend wanted. Tomorrow they would talk.

He and Ginny, by unspoken agreement, waited quietly for Tonks and Remus to return. Tonks never did, but Remus eventually turned up.

"Tonks had to go into the Ministry," he explained. "It was a bit of a mess to sort out. Much as I hate to admit it, the fact that the Longbottoms are such a prominent Pureblood family draws a lot more inquiry than an attack on a Muggleborn or even Half-blood would."

Harry nodded his head absently. Blood prejudices ran deep in the Wizarding World. But it was not the ministry's reaction that he was interested in.

"Did you have any trouble with Dumbledore?" Ginny asked.

He sank down heavily into the armchair opposite the sofa. "I think he may be suspicious of me, but he didn't say anything about it and didn't ask any questions. The Order has been unofficially trying to keep an eye on your friends' houses, both for their safety and in the hopes of spotting you, so it's possible that he took it as a chance encounter, that we managed to stumble across you as the attack was occurring. He's too shrewd to blindly accept mere coincidence, however, so he likely has deduced I'm in contact with you."

Harry just nodded his head. "I sent him a letter a week or so back," Harry told him. He had not previously spoken of the letter to anyone but Ginny. "I haven't heard back yet, but I suppose it's possible that he took some of what I said to heart."

"And what did you say?" Remus queried, leaning forward and peering at Harry intently.

"A lot," Harry said with a shrug as he struggled internally to form a response. "I called him on a lot of his actions of late and told him I'll be fighting in this war with our without his help. I said it was about time we started working together instead of wasting our resources trying to counter each other."

Remus nodded his head and gave Harry a warm smile. "Ever the optimist," he quipped.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Someone has to keep their eyes forward if we're ever going to stop this war."

"No one can accuse you of not doing your best to work towards that goal," Remus agreed. Looking around the room he asked, "Where's Neville?"

Harry jerked his head towards the bedroom. "He wanted some time alone."

Remus nodded solemnly. "That was a very good thing you did, offering him a place here. He'll need his friends to get through this."

"I know," Harry agreed, running a hand through his hair.

"I suppose you would know better than most," Remus acceded.

"You and me both," Harry countered.

"I should probably get going," Remus stated after a short silence. "I'll stop by tomorrow with an update on the arrangements."

"Thanks, Remus," Harry said. "I know Neville will appreciate that."

As the door closed behind him, Harry and Ginny slipped almost reflexively into each other's arms. Harry inhaled deeply the flowery scent he had come to associate as uniquely Ginny and squeezed her tightly. "I love you," he whispered and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

"I love you too, Harry," she replied with a kiss into his neck.

Harry sighed as they held each other for a long moment. He gave a long glance to Neville's door, reaffirming his vow to give him this night. If Neville did not emerge on his own by the time they finished their morning workout, he would just have to go and drag him out.

OoOoO

As it turned out he did not need to oust Neville from his self-imposed isolation. When Harry and Ginny returned from their morning workout, they found him lingering just inside the training room.

"All right, Neville?" he called.

Neville turned around and walked towards them, stopping to lean against the doorway as he seemed to take in their appearance. "Yeah, I'm okay. Thank you both for yesterday. I wouldn't have lasted much longer if you hadn't shown up when you did."

"I'm just sorry the Portkey wasn't able to get you out of there," Harry stated. "They've been using Portkeys themselves to escape, so I figured they wouldn't ward against them. Yours is the first place I've seen where they've done so."

"You did all that you could," Neville assured him. "But how did you know we were under attack?"

Harry studied him for a moment before jerking his head towards the map on the wall. "Those necklaces were more than just Portkeys," he explained as he led Neville over to the map.

"Harry linked them to this map which shows us where they are and also alerts us if the Portkey is activated," Ginny supplied from behind them. "Quite ingenious, really."

Harry looked over his shoulder to meet her gaze for a moment before turning back to Neville. "It was really just modified from something my father and his friends made while they were at Hogwarts."

"It's brilliant," Neville whispered as he studied the names scattered across the country.

Ginny smirked triumphantly at him as Harry looked at her. "I'm off to shower."

Neville waved over his shoulder with his eyes still glued to the map as Harry tracked her progress out of the room. "I'm going to get started on breakfast. Make yourself at home, Neville."

Neville turned away from the map and held Harry's gaze as he said, "Thank you, Harry – for everything."

"There's no need for thanks, Neville" Harry said, clapping him on the shoulder. "I know what it's like to not have anywhere to go. I used to spend my whole summers waiting for the day I'd get an owl from Ron saying I could come to stay with his family. Some people seem to think blood counts for everything, but it doesn't – not really. Some people are blessed with wonderful families. Some of us have to build our own, one step at a time."

"I never realized things were that bad for you," Neville stated, a far-away look in his eyes.

"I didn't exactly advertise the fact," Harry responded. "Not even to Ron and Hermione, though we were close enough for them to realize that not all was well with my relatives."

Neville's gaze refocused on him as he spoke, "Gran wasn't the easiest person to grow up with, but, for as long as I can remember, she's been my only family. I know she loved me, but I also know how hard it was to have me around as a constant reminder of my father. Sometimes she found it difficult to separate us. I don't think she was aware of it, but I think deep down she wanted me to be just like my dad, to replace him in her life. Almost like my dad would live on in me or something."

"That must have been hard," Harry commented, "knowing you could never be who she wanted you to be."

Neville nodded his head, not meeting Harry's gaze. A heavy silence settled over the pair before Neville asked, "Was it like that with your relatives too?"

"The opposite," he replied, shaking his head. "They hate magic and anything connected to it. Nothing would have made them happier than if I turned out to be nothing like my parents – a squib without an ounce of magic. Of course, I know now that even that would never have been enough. Even if you had been the exact spitting image of your father, it would never have been enough to fill that void."

"I know," Neville said, finally meeting Harry's eyes. "As much as I wished I could, I realized that it was impossible."

"We can only be who we are. No more, no less," Harry stated. Feeling the need for a lighter topic, he said, "You ever been in a Muggle house before?"

"No," he answered with an abrupt shake of his head. "I haven't."

"Come on, then," Harry said, leading him into the kitchen. "If you're going to be staying with us, you ought to learn how to operate some of the appliances. I can teach you the basics while I make breakfast."

When Ginny rejoined them, Neville was bent over the stove turning one of the burners on and off in fascination while Harry was dishing up their meal.

"Isn't this amazing?" he asked of her.

Harry laughed. "Yes, yes, Muggles are rather ingenious. Now come on, and let's eat already."

Harry caught a quick shower after breakfast and settled onto the sofa beside Ginny with a book in his hand. "We usually use this time to do a bit of studying," he explained to Neville.

"Er – I hope you don't mind me asking," Neville started, red staining his cheeks as he paused momentarily. "How – uh – how long have you two been living together?"

Harry shot a glance towards Ginny to find her looking back at him with her eyebrows raised in surprise – a look Harry guessed was mirrored on his own face. He had never considered what their living situation would look like to an outsider, but now that he thought about it, he could see exactly why Neville was seemingly uncomfortable and curious about it.

"A few weeks," Harry answered, turning back to Neville. "We didn't exactly plan it this way, but some extenuating circumstances arose…" he trailed off, looking to Ginny and grasping her hand. "And while I regret the events that led her here, I'm quite pleased at how things turned out."

"Me too," she agreed with a sly smile that slowly slipped from her face. "Though I really didn't like what led me here."

Harry gave her hand a squeeze and turned back to Neville. "I had been planning on getting a house since last summer so that I wouldn't have to go back to my relatives and so that I'd be able to hide from both Dumbledore and Voldemort."

Neville nodded his head and cast his gaze about the room. "Feel free to check out the shelves, see if anything catches your interest," Harry offered. "Remus is supposed to drop by later with an update. Maybe afterward we can go and pick up some of your things, if you want."

"That sounds good," Neville responded as he wandered over the book shelves lining the wall next to the map.

Harry shared a quick look with Ginny before picking up his book and starting to read.

Their studying was interrupted shortly thereafter by a short burst of ethereal song followed by a flash of fire. He jumped off the sofa even as his brain recognized phoenix song. A fiery bird emerged from the ball of flames and circled the room, trilling softly. Harry held out his arm and the phoenix swooped down to alight gently on the offered perch. "Hello, Fawkes," Harry greeted.

Fawkes trilled in reply, and Harry took note of the fact that the bird was standing on only one leg. He held out the other to reveal a roll of parchment clasped in his talon. "Thank you," he said, reaching up with his other hand to grab the missive. He dropped the letter onto the sofa to rub his fingers through the phoenix's feathers.

Fawkes gave another trill before launching into the air and disappearing in another burst of flames.

"Was that Dumbledore's phoenix?" Neville queried.

Harry nodded. "I sent him a letter over a week ago; I'm surprised it took him this long to reply."

"But I thought you said he couldn't find you here," his fellow Gryffindor pressed.

"Dumbledore can't," Harry explained. "Fawkes, on the other hand, is another story. I'm not sure whether or not he'd be able to bring the headmaster here, but I suspected he'd be able to find me here or else when I left the house and suggested Dumbledore use him to send his response."

"Well, read it and see what he has to say," Ginny inserted, holding the roll of parchment out to him.

Harry accepted the letter and sat beside her on the sofa. He held it out in such a way that she could read as well should she wish to do so.

_Dear Harry,_

_You have no doubt been wondering when or perhaps if you would receive my reply. I will be honest with you when I say that, upon my first read through your letter, I was shocked at your suggestion that I turn to Fawkes to deliver this reply when I had on several occasions turned to my friend for aid in finding you, only to be rebuffed time and time again. I was unsure whether he would not or could not help. I now know. He was not impressed when I chastised him for withholding such information from me nor when I demanded he take me to you straight away._

_I fear for your safety everyday. You have proven more than capable of taking care of yourself; this I cannot deny. However, your insistence in rushing to every attack made against one of your students places you in grave danger. I do not doubt these words will fall on deaf ears, but please allow an old man to say his piece. _

_You raised many points in your missive and asked many questions. I fear that any answers I can provide to you will be wholly inadequate, but as you so eloquently stated, we cannot expect to be perfect. All we can do is try. _

_I do not, as you might hope or expect, have a grand design for you. There is no guide to follow on your road to confront Tom. There are no methods I can offer you to guarantee his defeat. I have only suspicions and educated guesses, though, with all false modesty aside, my guesses are far more educated than the average person's. _

_You asked me what power you possess that the Dark Lord knows not, and my answer was love. Love is what saved you from death. Tom has never considered love to be anything but a weakness and never conceived that such a force could stop an unblockable curse. Even now he underestimates the power of love, believing that with your blood flowing in his veins that whatever power your mother's love and sacrifice provided you has been nullified. _

_I believe he is wrong. I believe the power of your mother's love continues to live on in you today, and I believe your own very nature has kept it alive all these years. Despite the similarities shared in your childhoods, you never lost your capacity to love. No, your ability to love, if anything, exceeds that of most your age. You love so fully and completely, and that love empowers you. There is no offensive spell powered by love; it will not provide you a curse capable of defeating Tom. Perhaps it was hopelessly naïve of me, but I never intended for you to fight in this war – at least not while you were still a student. I had hoped to prevent Tom from returning at least until you were fully trained. When he returned at the end of your fourth year, I hoped to limit his influence and shield you from the realities of war for as long as possible. _

_I do not need to tell you the extent of my failures. I was unable to convince our world of Tom's return and spent more time fighting political battles with the Ministry than I did countering Tom's actions. I failed to keep you informed and left you susceptible to Tom's manipulations. I fear I failed you yet again in sending you back to your relatives last summer. I suspect it did not take you long to come to the decision that I would continue to repeat my mistakes in my treatment of you. I have found myself curious as to how exactly you managed to teach yourself the intricacies of wandless magic in such a short span of time, but now is not the best time for such intellectual inquiries._

_I will be honest and state that it is still my desire to prevent you from continuing to put yourself in danger by engaging Death Eaters. I also understand that my desires hold little sway over your actions. Moreover, I would be hard-pressed to stop you even if I could find you, and given your recent assent into legal majority, I would have little ground to act upon. There comes a point in every man's life when he must admit defeat. There are some battles worth fighting to the bitter end; this is not one. Continuing to fight against each other would only further hinder our cause, and you are correct that we can accomplish much more if we work together. _

_The ball, as the youth say, is in your pitch. You know where to find me, yet I have failed utterly in all efforts to locate you. You offered me an olive branch, and it is only fair that I offer the same. I realize my recent actions have left you little cause to trust me, but I offer you my solemn vow that, upon our next meeting, I will do nothing to stop you from returning to your current residence. I hope my word is enough to assuage any doubts you may have about meeting with me. Should you require further assurance, you know where to owl me; otherwise, my door is and always shall be open to you._

_With my sincerest regards,_

_Albus Wulfric Percival Brian Dumbledore_

Harry looked over at Ginny to find her still reading. He turned to find Neville no longer sitting across from them. He must have been distracted while reading the letter. It took only a moment to locate him by his magic in the loo. By the time he turned back to Ginny, she was looking up into his gaze. "What do you think?"

Harry frowned as he thought it over. "It sounds like he's coming around."

"Do you believe him?" she pressed.

"I don't think he's the type of person to break a vow," Harry replied thoughtfully. "I mean, I know it's hard to take him at his word right now, but I don't think he's a bad person. He's just made some poor decisions lately."

She nodded her agreement. "I know. And I know how much we need him in the war. I just don't particularly want to have to deal with him myself."

Harry gave her a sad smile and squeezed her hand in support. "I can't say I blame you. I'll set up a meeting with him in a few days, and we can take things from there."

With that decided he went back to his reading only to be interrupted again by the arrival of Remus. He had gotten in touch with Neville's Great Uncle Algie who requested Neville's help in setting all the affairs in order. They were planning the funeral service for tomorrow, so Neville decided to stay with his uncle for the evening despite Harry's offer to ferry him back and forth as needed.

OoOoO

Harry and Ginny arrived at the funeral early and sought out Neville, wanting to make sure their friend was all right. They found him with two wizards and a witch who all appeared to be contemporaries of Neville's gran, and Neville appeared relieved to see them.

"Thank you both for coming," he said to them, accepting Harry's handshake and Ginny's hug.

"Of course we're going to be here, Neville," Ginny stated. "We're your friends."

"And you are still coming back with us, aren't you?" Harry added.

Neville nodded with a small smile. "Yes, and thanks, again."

Harry waved him off. "That's what mates are for. We'll get out of your hair as I'm sure you have things to do."

"Actually," Neville spoke, causing Harry to pause mid-turn and face him again. "If you don't mind, would you… It's just that, we don't have much family, and, as you can see, no one even near my age," he said, gesturing to the elderly wizards and witches behind him. "It would mean a lot of you'd stay and sit with me during the funeral."

"Of course."

"We're here for _you_, Neville," Ginny added. "Whatever you need."

"I appreciate it. More than I can say," Neville replied.

Harry smiled, knowing that no amount of denials would stop Neville from showing his gratitude. "Any time, Neville."

In truth, Harry felt a little awkward standing with Neville and his few remaining family members as guests began to arrive, but it was a small burden to bear compared to giving his friend whatever support he needed. When he saw a distinctive shock of red hair, though, he began to fear the worst. He knew the time would come when he and Ginny would need to face the rest of her family, but now was not the time for such a potentially volatile meeting.

Ron did nothing more than nod his head at Harry as he went to greet Neville. Mrs. Weasley, on the other hand, had eyes only for her daughter. Ginny could do little but brace herself for impact as Molly Weasley rushed forward and swept her into a crushing embrace. Harry met Mr. Weasley's eyes for a moment as he walked toward his wife and daughter, clasping a hand to Ginny's shoulder as she was still enveloped in her mother's arms.

When she eventually let go of her daughter, he noticed tears in Mrs. Weasley's eyes. She seemed to take a moment to compose herself before turning her attention on him. She hesitated a moment before drawing him into one of her trademark, bone crushing hugs.

When she stepped back a moment later, an awkward silence settled over the group. Mrs. Weasley took a deep breath as if she was about to speak but stopped when Mr. Weasley laid hand on her shoulder. "Now is not the best time for this, but perhaps after the service you two would be willing to talk?"

Harry turned and met Ginny's eyes for a long moment. He did not need Legilimency to read her conflicted emotions. Turning back to her parents, Harry replied, "Of course."

Nodding rigidly, Mr. Weasley ushered his wife to their seats, and Ron stepped up in their place. He, too, gave Ginny a tight hug and then held his hand out to Harry. He gripped it without hesitation.

"It's a good thing you're doing for Neville," Ron commented, jerking his head towards the boy who was greeting another new arrival.

Harry shrugged. "I know what it's like to have nowhere to go and no one to go to."

"I reckon you do," Ron replied. "Mum and Dad weren't too bad, were they?" he asked, half turning to include Ginny in the conversation.

"No," Harry replied as Ginny glumly inserted, "They want to have a talk after the service."

"I'm guessing you don't plan to come home?" Ron asked. When Ginny shook her head, he winced in sympathy. "Mum's gonna flip. She's barely been holding it together since you left."

"Yes, well, she wasn't exactly blameless in my leaving in the first place," she retorted.

Ron held up his hands in supplication. "Hey, I'm not saying she wasn't. I'm just telling you what to expect."

"Thanks, Ron," Harry said. "And thanks for sticking up for me to Bill too."

"How'd you hear about that?" Ron questioned.

"We – uh – kind of ran into him a couple weeks back," he explained. "Let's just say he hadn't changed his position and that he didn't care what you or the twins thought on the matter."

Ron shrugged. "It's not that I enjoy thinking about it, but I trust you. I know you wouldn't do anything Ginny didn't want you to do, and if you tried, she'd probably do far worse to you than I could."

"You're probably right," Harry admitted with a smile.

"Damn straight he is," Ginny helpfully inserted.

"Well, I should probably get back to Mum and Dad," Ron stated. "I'll see you guys after…."

"Yeah, see you," Harry agreed.

"Bye, Ron," Ginny added.

With a little wave, Ron turned and made his way to where his parents were sitting, and Harry turned back to Ginny and reached for her hand, interlocking his fingers with hers. There was still the looming conversation following the service, but thus far things with the Weasleys had gone well.

Seeing that Neville was not currently occupied, he tugged Ginny's hand lightly and headed towards him.

"How did things go with your parents?" he directed at Ginny.

She shrugged. "The battle has been postponed until after the service."

"Sorry," Neville said in reply. "If it weren't for me…"

"Honestly, Neville," Ginny interrupted. "You're just as bad as Harry, trying to take responsibility for everything that happens around you. It's not as if I intended to avoid my parents for the rest of my life."

"What she's trying to say," Harry added, "is that it's no problem. We want to be here for you. Truth be told, we expected this to happen, with the Weasleys and…"

"Dumbledore," Neville interrupted.

"Yes," Harry agreed, nodding.

"No," Neville stated, shaking his head. He lifted a hand and pointed behind Harry. "Dumbledore is here."

"Oh," Harry responded, his thoughts derailed. Slowly he turned around, letting go of Ginny's hand in the process and met the eyes of his headmaster as the man approached.

"Harry. Ginny. Neville," the wizened wizard greeted in turn, focusing his attention on Neville at the last and offering his hand. "I'm terribly sorry for your loss, my dear boy."

"Thank you, sir," Neville responded.

"It is bittersweet that it is at such times that we are often brought closer to those around us that it comes accompanied with the loss of someone we hold dear," the headmaster intoned. "But it is always heartening to find you have friends you can rely on when things are most dire."

"I couldn't agree more," the boy said, turning his gaze to Harry and Ginny. "I couldn't ask for better friends."

"I dare say these two are unique in that regard," Dumbledore concurred. "Again, Neville, you have my most sincere sympathies, and, should you have need of anything, do not hesitate to contact me, and I shall offer whatever aid I can."

"Thank you, sir," Neville said. Harry was slightly shocked when, with a simple glance and nod in his direction, Dumbledore walked off without another word. He looked at Neville and then to Ginny to find his feelings expressed plainly on their faces.

"Perhaps he really was sincere," Harry commented after a long moment of silence.

"Perhaps." Ginny shrugged noncommittally.

He did not blame her one bit for being less than charitable towards the headmaster even despite his apparent change in behaviour. Were circumstances less dire, he would be much more hesitant to make amends with the man as well. As it was, though, he had little choice, and, at least for the moment, things were looking about as well as they could.

It was at that moment that he saw Hermione arrive. He watched her warily, wondering whether fate would allow him to avoid a third consecutive potential confrontation. She approached Neville first and pulled him into a fierce hug. He could hear the whisper of exchanged words, but they were spoken softly enough that he would have had to strain his ears to listen in. After a long moment, Hermione stepped back and gripped Neville's arm briefly before turning in his direction. "Harry," she greeted coolly, "Ginny." She strode on past without any further ado, and Harry was left momentarily stunned at her frosty demeanour. By his books, he had every right to be upset with her, not the other way around. One glance at Neville, though, and Harry put the matter out of his mind. Now was definitely not the right time to worry about such things.

Seamus and Dean arrived together shortly before the service was scheduled to start and found seats beside Ron after greeting Neville. It was only at that point that he realized Hermione was not sitting with the Weasleys. He was unable to give much thought to the matter, though, as it was time for the funeral to begin. He and Ginny followed Neville to the front of the room and seated themselves at his side. Harry had never been to a funeral before, magical or Muggle, but he imagined there was probably not much difference between the two. He had never known any witches or wizards to be particularly religious. They celebrated Christmas and Easter, and that was about all he ever saw to signify any sort of religious belief. Nevertheless, a vicar conducted the bulk of the ceremony until family and friends were given the opportunity to speak about the deceased.

A couple of Neville's elderly family members spoke briefly about the formidable woman whom they were laying to rest. Dumbledore said a few words about the influence she had held within the Ministry and the reforms she had helped to push through in her life. Neville declined to speak, and when no others volunteered, the vicar concluded the ceremony.

A procession was formed as they all followed the vicar, who was floating the coffin in front of him, onto the grounds of the manor. After a short walk, they entered a small, family cemetery. A few more words were spoken before the coffin was lowered into the newest grave. The family was called forward to levitate the freshly dug earth back into the hole. The dirt was separated into piles, one for each of the family members to add their piece.

Nothing more was said as Augusta Longbottom lay in her final resting place. Gradually, the crowd began to return to the manor. Neville stood rooted beside his grandmother's grave, Harry and Ginny his shadows, not more than two paces behind him. Eventually, even the minister and the rest of the family departed. When just the three of them remained, Ginny stepped forward and put a hand on Neville's shoulder before turning him and pulling him into a hug. Harry stepped up as she released her embrace and clapped Neville on the shoulder, giving him a reassuring squeeze. "How are you holding up?"

He took a deep, steadying breath. "I'm okay," he stated. "It's just," he paused, searching for the right word, "_final_ now, you know?"

Harry nodded, though he honestly could not exactly relate. While he was no stranger to losing loved ones, he had never buried any of them. He was not sure which was worse.

"Do you think you guys could give me a few minutes?" Neville asked after a long moment.

Harry shared a quick look with Ginny, and they immediately agreed. "We'll be inside whenever you're ready," he stated before they turned and began the short walk back. Harry kept a focus on Neville's magic as they walked away, wary of leaving him out there alone so soon after the attack.

Unsurprisingly, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were waiting to pounce as soon as they reappeared. They were ushered into a mostly deserted corner of the room. An awkward silence descended over the quartet as nobody seemed eager to begin. Finally, Mr. Weasley cleared his throat as he adjusted the collar of his robes. "Your mother and I owe you an apology," he began, speaking directly to Ginny.

"I could offer you any number of excuses as to why we agreed to what Dumbledore proposed, but in the end, we were both aware of what an invasion of privacy we were endorsing, and we did so anyway. While we may have had the best of intentions, that does not excuse our actions. You are our daughter, and our first duty is to protect you, and in that we failed. To the extent that you felt you had to run away from your own home to ensure your own safety." Harry could clearly hear the pain in his voice as he confessed his sins and could not help but feel for the man. Ginny's flight from the Burrow had obviously affected him deeply.

"We're so sorry, Ginny," her mother pleaded, her regret and sadness written across her face.

Ginny gripped his hand tightly at her father's emotional display. Harry squeezed her hand comfortingly, as she cleared her throat and responded. "I forgive you. Both of you. I know that you did what you did because you were worried about Harry, and while I do not agree with those reasons, I guess I can understand why you might feel the need to do whatever you could to find him."

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley shared a relieved smile at her words. "Molly and I have always viewed you as a part of our family," Mr. Weasley said, turning his attention to Harry. "We have been worried about you ever since you disappeared at the end of term. We don't know what you've been doing since then, or even for the last year, and we don't know why you felt the need to hide your actions from your friends and family. But you're a good man, Harry, with a good heart. I don't know how you knew Ginny was in distress, but when we failed our daughter, you were there for her. I can never thank you enough for that."

Harry just nodded his head, not sure what to say in response to his words. "Molly and I talked at length before today, hoping that we would have a chance to talk with you both. More than anything else, we want you to come home, both of you. I promise there will be no questions asked. Whatever you two have been doing this summer or last term, it's not as important to us as the two of you yourselves. We just want our daughter, and you, Harry, back home with us."

Harry could tell that this had been well-rehearsed. And Mr. Weasley was definitely the right one to make this plea. While he loved the Weasley matriarch, she had a tendency to be overbearing and had difficulty treating her children as anything but the children she had spent so many years raising. Mr. Weasley, on the other hand, seemed to always know when to approach his children as a parent and when to approach them as adults, which only served to make it all the more difficult to say what needed to be said.

"I can never thank you and Mrs. Weasley enough for all you've done for me," Harry stated honestly. "You've been more like parents to me than anyone else in my life, and I hope that I can always continue to count on you in that regard. However, as much as I love the Burrow and your family, I can't take you up on your offer."

"Neither can I," Ginny added, and Harry could see the heartbreak in her parents' faces.

"But," Mrs. Weasley burst out loudly, but Harry held up a hand for silence, simultaneously casting a quick privacy ward so as not to draw attention.

"I know you like to think of us both as kids," Harry continued, "and maybe we are in some ways. But it doesn't matter. This war won't wait for us to grow up. Voldemort has been targeting students – my students – and I've made it my responsibility to protect them. I haven't been perfect; we wouldn't be here if I had. But I've done the best I can, and I'll continue to do so. And I'll continue to do everything I can to stop the Death Eaters and Voldemort from hurting any innocents. Maybe I shouldn't have to. Maybe this shouldn't be my responsibility. But the fact of the matter is, it needs to be done, and I'm the one who's doing it."

"I'm not leaving Harry. I may not be at his level," Ginny interjected as he trailed off, "but I'm well above any other students at Hogwarts, and I know I can hold my own against most of the Order members. I love you both, but this is something I need to do."

"You two may think you're all grown up, but you are still just kids," Mrs. Weasley stated, visibly reining in her emotions as her voice warbled dangerously. "You may not be our son, Harry, but you're as good as. And you, young lady, are our daughter. Our underage daughter. You may think you need to stay with Harry, and you may think you need to go out fighting Death Eaters, but that's not up to you. We are your parents, and we want you at home. We'd prefer it if you came willingly, but it is _not _up for discussion."

"Molly, we talked about this," Mr. Weasley interrupted with a stern note of warning in his tone.

"Oh yes, we talked about it," Mrs. Weasley responded, her voice becoming loud and shrill. "We talked about approaching them as adults and allowing them to choose, counting on them to make the right decision. Well, they've made the wrong one, Arthur, and I will not stand here while my only daughter disappears again."

"We also talked about what would happen if they did not agree, if you will recall," he responded harshly, surprising Harry. He had never heard Mr. Weasley talk like that, especially not to his wife. He turned back to them and continued in his normal, calming tone, "You have to understand that this has been very hard on us, and we want more than anything for you two to come home. I can certainly understand your reticence, and I know that no matter that you, Ginny, are still underage, we cannot truly force you to come home with us. That's not the way we want things. We don't want you to feel like a prisoner in your own home."

"Thank you, Daddy," Ginny replied, her voice oddly shy sounding.

He smiled warmly if a twinge sadly and held his arms open. Harry let go of her hand as Ginny stepped forward into his embrace. Harry watched father and daughter for a moment before Mrs. Weasley's expression caught his eye. An immense sadness was painted across her face as she stared at the hug being shared between her husband and daughter. While her insistence upon coddling them as children frustrated him, he hated to see her looking so devastated.

Harry's ears perked up as he heard the murmur of words being exchanged between the pair. He refrained from actively trying to listen in until they separated. As she left her father's arms, Ginny immediately turned to her mother. "Mum?" she said with a questioning lilt in her tone.

For the second time that day, Mrs. Weasley hesitated. She focused her gaze on Ginny for a moment before finally her countenance cracked. A stifled sob escaped, and she stepped forward and encased Ginny in her warm embrace. "Oh, Ginny," she cried. "My darling baby. I will always love you. I just miss you so much and worry for you."

"Take care of her," Mr. Weasley stated from his side, and Harry was marginally startled at how close he was, having not noticed him walking up next to him.

"I will," Harry vowed, turning to look him in the eye. "I love her, sir. I will _not_ let anything happen to her."

"If there is one thing I trust, Harry, son," Mr. Weasley said, "it is both your resolve and ability to do just that."

Harry nodded gratefully, a little taken aback at the faith Mr. Weasley seemed to have in him. Turning back to the Weasley women, he found them just separating.

"I know we can't talk you into coming home for good, but maybe we can entice you into coming for dinner," Mr. Weasley said as he walked back to his wife's side, grasping her hand between both his own.

"I'll make all your favourites," Mrs. Weasley added.

Harry smiled and turned to Ginny, seeing his own feelings mirrored in her eyes. When they turned back, Ginny said, "We'd love that."

Harry gripped Ginny's hand as her parents smiled at their acceptance. Something niggled in the back of his mind at that moment, and he took stock of himself and his surroundings. His eyes and ears revealed nothing, but a moment later he realized what it was. Neville's was no longer the only aura he could detect outside the manor.

Ginny turned to him worriedly as he stiffened, and he uttered one word to her before bolting from the room. "Neville!"

He sprinted out onto the grounds to find Neville standing guard over his grandmother's grave, shielding it and himself from Blasting and Bombarding curses from a trio of masked figures. In a brief lull in their fire, Neville was able to return with a Stunner. The Death Eater was sluggish to respond to the attack and fell to the red spell. The other two continued their attack on Neville without paying any mind to their fallen ally. Harry sent a deluge of Stunning Spells towards the remaining two as Neville continued to shield. He managed to catch both of the remaining Death Eaters who made no move to defend themselves, no matter that they should have been able to see the spells coming in their peripheral vision.

He slowed his all-out sprint into a jog as he continued towards Neville who was huffing heavily as he remained standing with his wand held up in defence just in front of the freshly turned dirt of his grandmother's grave. "Are you all right?" Harry asked as he approached.

Neville nodded. "I'm fine," he said, still catching his breath. "They didn't seem all that smart or skilled, just kept shooting spells at the grave."

Harry nodded, having thought they were rather incompetent as well. Their lack of reactions to their return spells made him think there was more here than met the eye. A drone of voices caught his ear as other guests began pouring out of the manor, presumably following Harry's hasty departure. Leading the charge was Ginny, who had at least a fifty yard lead on the others. She slowed to a walk when it became apparent there was no danger left.

"What happened?" she queried.

Harry jerked his head to the three fallen figures. "They were attacking the grave and not very mindful of anything else. I have a feeling they were either new recruits or, more likely, under the Imperius."

"Neville, Harry, are you all right?" Dumbledore asked as he strode up to them.

Harry nodded as Neville replied, "Fine."

The headmaster nodded as he continued past them towards the Stunned Death Eaters. Harry immediately sprung into step beside him. "I suspect they're not real Death Eaters," he said as they came upon the bodies.

Dumbledore turned and regarded him for a short moment before turning back to the Death Eaters. As he knelt down to remove the mask of one of them, Harry felt his necklace heat up. Grasping the cord in alarm, Harry turned around to see Ginny fingering hers as well. He met her eyes briefly before turning back to Dumbledore. "I have to go," he said, quickly rushing back to Ginny and Neville.

"Stay here," he said to Neville and then turned to Ginny. "Meet you at the map."

He Apparated directly into his lounge, and Ginny appeared at his side a moment later. Tonks and Remus entered through the front door seconds later as his eyes locked in on the flashing name. _Fred Weasley_. Weasleys Wizarding Wheezes was under attack.


	6. Necessity Unites

_**A/N:**__ Hello all. It's been a long time, but as you can see I haven't completely disappeared nor have I given up on the story. I'll leave a more comprehensive AN after the chapter, but I just wanted to say thanks to Christine for beta-ing the chapter, and thank you to Maggie for not only beta-ing but also constantly encouraging - and occasionally pestering - me to write. And thank you to everyone who has reviewed and offered me encouragement as I worked through my writing drought. I've really appreciated all your support. Now, without further ado, on with the chapter._

**Chapter 6:**** Necessity Unites**

Albus stared at the spot where two of his students had disappeared, frowning in worry. Given their actions, it was clear something had just occurred; perhaps another student was under attack. Harry obviously had some means of knowing when his students were in trouble. He had noticed the boy grabbing at the cord of a necklace before leaving in a rush. Glancing to the side, he noticed Remus and Nymphadora speaking quietly but urgently to one another. He suspected they were deciding whether leaving to help was worth giving themselves away. He intended to help make up their minds.

Two quick, soft pops sounded, and Harry and Ginny reappeared. "Diagon Alley," Harry called, looking first to Remus and Tonks and then turning to meet his gaze. "I don't know how many there are," Harry confessed, "but I'd rather come with more force than necessary."

Albus nodded his agreement even as he stifled his rising objections to the teens' involvement in any fighting. They were well past the point where any of his arguments would do any good. Best to go along and do what he could to ensure they came to no harm. Turning to the gathering crowd of Order members, he ordered, "You heard the boy. Hestia and Sturgis," he picked out, "please remain here in case any other unwanted guests arrive." He glanced pointedly to the Stunned trio by the gravesite to emphasize his intent. "The rest of you, to Diagon Alley, and be prepared for anything."

Harry and Ginny were already gone as were Remus and Nymphadora. Without wasting another moment, Albus Disapparated. He felt the wards blocking his intended destination and redirected the magic at the last instant, taking him to the alley outside the Leaky Cauldron. He strode purposely through the entrance to the pub and had to fight his way against the tide of people streaming in from Diagon Alley. Some used the Floo to escape, while others Disapparated as soon as they crossed the threshold out the door.

The Alley itself was not any less chaotic. People were running everywhere from the several groups of Death Eaters, each at least five strong. But what drew his attention was the figure standing amidst the chaos completely unaffected. Wand in hand but pointed casually toward the ground stood Tom Riddle, the self-appointed Dark Lord Voldemort.

A series of small explosions drew his gaze to the side where, under the storefront proclaiming the sign, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, dozens of spells erupted in every direction. Amidst the lights of the spells stood a group of eight Death Eaters unprepared for the sudden onslaught. None of the spells were debilitating, but they would prove suitably distracting for the moment.

Turning his attention back to more immediate concerns, he followed along the shadows of the storefronts towards a nearby group of Death Eaters. As long as Tom was abstaining from the battle, it would be best to take care of some of his underlings before he became aware of Albus' presence.

An upward flick and jab of his wand brought some rubble off the ground surrounding the mob of dark wizards. He circled his wand around, forming a ring of steel that, with a sharp pull of his wand, contracted around the group, pulling them together into a knot and stealing their breath away. The moment of distraction was all he needed to Summon their wands away. A red burst of light followed, and they summarily collapsed to the ground.

Satisfied, he turned back to track Tom and startled upon finding that he had moved. A quick sweep of the Alley showed numerous battles breaking out between newly arrived Order members and the Death Eaters, but he could not allow himself to be distracted by these skirmishes. Finally, he located his target standing out of the way in the mouth of an alley across from the Weasleys' store where a battle was taking place.

His eyes widened as he realized exactly who was involved in that particular skirmish. Harry largely blended in with his surroundings, but the Weasley red stood out. Not only was Ginny present at his side, but Messrs. Fred and George were as well. Fear growing in the pit of his stomach, he began marching down the Alley towards the teens. He did not trust Tom to remain inactive for long.

His gaze alternated between the teens and Tom as he strode down the Alley. He had never seen any of them in battle before save for Pensieve memories of a young man he had only recently learned was, in fact, Harry. Somehow it was entirely different seeing for oneself the proficiency with which the young man wielded his magic without even the aid of a wand.

His distraction was so complete that he nearly failed to react in time to the Killing Curse approaching at his side. A quick flick of his wand to raise a block of cement into the path of the spell saved his life while a quick burst of wind prevented the shrapnel from tearing into his flesh. A negligent wand jab turned his attacker's robes to lead, and he distantly noted the thump of metal meeting the ground as he turned his focus back where it belonged.

Too late; Tom was already approaching the battling teens. Pointing his wand to the ground, he released his magic as he traced his wand forward. A crack split the ground in front of him and followed the path of his wand as it spread under Tom's feet, halting his approach. The Dark Lord turned his head, and Albus met his crimson-eyed gaze. A malevolent smirk lit Tom's face as he dismissively turned away towards a nearby group of Death Eaters.

Albus could just hear the order. "Keep the fossil busy while I attend to _other_ matters."

They immediately fanned out as they approached, preventing him from being able to target them as a group. Without any delay, he started on the offensive. He had to get to Tom before he could do any harm to Harry.

OoOoO

"_Harry Potter_," a hissing voice addressed him as he knocked out another Death Eater. He froze in midstride for just a moment before turning to meet the hateful red glare of Voldemort and bit back a gasp as his already throbbing scar erupted in searing pain. He gritted his teeth as he glared at the façade of a man before him.

_This was not good_.

Fighting Death Eaters was one thing, but he knew he was not ready to face their master. But neither was he prepared to flee and leave innocents to suffer in his wake. "I'm surprised to see you, Tom," he finally responded, glancing quickly to each side. Ginny and the twins were still fighting a pair of Death Eaters on one side of him, and he noticed Dumbledore engaged with eight or ten of them a short distance down the Alley on his other side. _Guess that just leaves me._

He slipped his wand out of its holster on his arm. He had not used it in weeks, but he kept it strapped to his forearm out of sheer habit. While it would only slow him down in a normal duel, it was a weapon of a different sort against Voldemort, and he was grateful to have it with him. "That wand will not help you today, _Harry_," Voldemort dismissed with a sneer. "I expected I might run into you today and made the proper arrangements."

Harry's eyes slid to the wand clasped in his enemy's hand. It was sad that he could spot immediately that it was not his usual wand – once he knew to look for it. Sighing, he slid his wand back up his forearm until it locked back into its holster. There was no sense using it since it was not a brother to Voldemort's new wand.

"You have been very busy this summer," Voldemort noted casually.

"Only as busy as your minions," Harry retorted, only too happy to continue the repartee if it gave Dumbledore a chance to finish off those Death Eaters and help.

Voldemort laughed. "Yes, you've been surprisingly effective against even my experienced Death Eaters, but it is not they you must defeat, _Harry._ Come, boy, and meet your destiny." He raised his wand and quickly sent a _Crucio_.

Harry was prepared for it and sidestepped easily, responding with a series of Stunners and Blasting Hexes in reply. Voldemort laughed as he flicked each one out of the air with the tip of his wand. "Surely the Prophesized One can do better than that?"

He was alarmed at how disturbingly easy it seemed for Voldemort to counter each of his spells, not even needing to rely upon a shield to stop them. Harry knew he was being baited, yet he also knew the longer he held Voldemort from truly attacking, the more time that would give Dumbledore to arrive, so he obliged.

He kept up a constant stream of hexes and curses, varying them but not digging into anything too powerful. His aim was only to keep Voldemort distracted. It would not do to tempt him to attack. The rate of spells was quick enough that Voldemort was unable to dispel them one at a time. Instead, he idly raised a shield and stood behind it, staring impassively at Harry.

"It is a neat trick," Voldemort stated even as Harry continued his relentless assault. "But you must realize you have no hope to harm me with mere schoolyard curses." His eyes slid past Harry, and his mouth quirked up into the semblance of a smile. "Look who has decided to join us. So lovely to see you again, my dear."

Harry could feel Ginny's approach from behind him but kept his gaze on Voldemort. He was hesitant to warn her away as he did not want to call attention to her, but when he saw Voldemort's eyes slide past him he knew it was already too late. "Stay back," Harry yelled at her, futilely hoping in spite of everything he knew about her that she would listen.

"I am _not_ letting you do this alone," Ginny fired back.

Voldemort laughed derisively. "Such a devoted lover, Potter – so willing to die at your side. I don't know what I shall ever do now that I must face the _both_ of you. Do I use her to break you? Or do I force her to watch as I kill you once and for all. It's so difficult to choose."

As Ginny continued her approach, Harry felt the pain in his scar begin to fade. When she stood level with Harry, he stepped in front of her, using one arm to hold her back while the other remained levelled at Voldemort. The moment his hand made contact with her the last vestiges of pain in his scar vanished completely, and Harry felt almost light-headed at its absence. Shaking his head, he glanced briefly at Ginny before turning his full attention back to Voldemort.

"If you're not here to kill me, then what do you want, Tom?" he demanded.

"Do not call me by that name!" Voldemort hissed, raising his wand menacingly.

"My apologies," Harry responded with a slight bow of his head. "I was under the impression we were on a first name basis."

He met Voldemort's glare as he waited, poised to spring aside and drag Ginny behind him the moment he struck, but, instead, the Dark Lord only laughed. "That's what I admire most about you, Harry. Defiant to the very end." He punctuated his last word with a jab of his wand, sending an unknown curse at him.

Harry sidestepped, feeling Ginny move with him. He let go of her arm as he turned to face Voldemort fully. As soon as he let go, he felt the thrum of pain re-emerge in his scar. He pushed the pain and his confusion over it to the back of his mind as he concentrated on the spells being shot at him. He did not recognize a single one, and so he dodged out of the way as each curse approached.

He sent some of the strongest curses he knew in return, but Voldemort seemed wholly unaffected by any of them. He swiped them out of the air with his wand even as he continued casting more and more curses. "How disgustingly _Muggle_ of you, Potter! Stand still, and fight me like a wizard."

Harry did not dignify him with a response. He continued his casting and added some Transfiguration into the mix. A pair of wolves were incinerated before they could even manage to get near the Dark Lord. He sent bricks and blocks of concrete flying at Voldemort, but the Dark Lord stopped the projectiles in midair with ease and redirected them back at Harry. He quickly spelled the ground in front of him to rise up to shield him from the onslaught and darted out from behind the barrier not a moment too soon as it exploded behind him.

"If you won't fight me properly, Potter, perhaps I'll have to find another to do battle with," Voldemort threatened as he turned his wand to Ginny, who had been ineffectively trying to curse Voldemort from his side.

"No," Harry snarled, pushing his rage and fear into his magic as he cursed the Dark Lord.

A pulse of white light left his outstretched hands and sped towards Voldemort, who quickly raised a shield. As the spell connected, there was a moment where he was sure the shield would fail, but it seemed as if Voldemort pulled magic from the very air around him to strengthen his shield and repel his spell out into the sky. And then he laughed as Harry sunk to a knee, suddenly feeling utterly drained.

"Now _that_ was impressive," he complimented, and Harry actually believed that he was truly impressed. "But it would appear you have overextended yourself, Harry. A valiant attempt to save your girlfriend, but you are no match for Lord Voldemort. I tire of these games. Rise, Harry, and meet your end."

"I'm afraid I cannot allow that, Tom," another voice chimed in. Harry did not think he would ever be more pleased to hear Dumbledore's voice.

"So, the old fool has finally decided to join the festivities," Voldemort mocked. "You are slipping in your old age, Dumbledore. Potter could have died many times over by now, and then where would you be without a saviour to pin your hopes on?"

Harry wearily rose to his feet as Dumbledore calmly replied, "It would appear that Harry has managed just fine to this point, Tom. With a little more time and the proper training, I dare say he might even be your equal." Harry did not miss the prophetic reference. Ginny approached from his side and reached for his hand. As soon as she made contact, the pain in his scar once again vanished.

"Nobody is my equal! Not you or this boy!"

"Perhaps," Dumbledore responded noncommittally. "You'll forgive me if I do not simply surrender my wand now, but I'll require you to prove that theory." He held his wand aloft, prepared to strike.

"I already have what I came for," Voldemort spat. "I've taken the measure of your Chosen One and found him lacking. Take your petty victory today; I've as good as won the war." With that he, as well as all his Death Eaters in the alley, disappeared with a whoosh of displaced air.

The sudden silence of the alley was deafening. He turned to Ginny and looked her over carefully to confirm she was uninjured before facing the headmaster. Harry found himself at a loss as to what to say. Their avoidance of the issues earlier in the day seemed silly now in the wake of the destruction of the Alley. Before he could come up with anything to say, Dumbledore beat him to the punch.

"Thank you for the warning, Harry," he stated gravely. "I daresay even a delay of mere minutes would have left us with hardly an Alley to salvage. Once again I find myself lagging sorely behind your efforts this summer."

Harry nodded uneasily, swallowing his pride as he briefly surveyed the carnage surrounding them. "I'm glad you were here. There were far too many Death Eaters let alone Voldemort for us to handle on our own."

"I believe, as you so ably put it, that it is high past time we began working with one another. We cannot afford to continue diverting our efforts away from our mutual objective."

Harry nodded his head and refrained from pointing out that only one of them was wasting resources working against the other.

"I believe, before we can begin down that road, that I must apologize to the both of you for my treatment of you over the past months. As virtuous as my intentions may have been, my actions were misguided and reprehensible."

Harry squeezed Ginny's hand in his, knowing she may not be ready to dole out any forgiveness just yet. "I appreciate that, but now is probably not the best time for this conversation. We could meet tomorrow after things have calmed down some."

Dumbledore frowned as his eyes swept through the Alley. "Yes, perhaps, you are right."

"Hogwarts, around lunch-time?" Harry suggested.

"Yes, that would be agreeable."

"See you then," Harry confirmed, turning towards Ginny and jerking his head towards the twins who were standing outside the front of their shop surveying the damage.

As they walked over to the pair, a nagging question he had been unable to ask in the heat of battle suddenly resurfaced in his mind. "If you guys are both still here, then who used the Portkey?"

The duo turned as one to regard them. "Our customers."

"Everyone that was in the shop…"

"When the first spell struck."

"Figured it would be bad for business…"

"If we just let paying customers perish in our very store."

"Quite sensible," Harry agreed.

"Almost too sensible," Ginny inserted suspiciously.

"That's because it wasn't their idea," Angelina stated as she walked out of the store. "They just wanted to take credit by using one of their own Portkeys."

"You wound us!"

"Grievously!"

"Our sole concern…"

"Was with your own safety."

"If things went pear-shaped…"

"We wanted to know that you'd have the means to escape."

"A fine way to repay our selfless act."

"I think you mean my selfless act, George. You still have your Portkey."

"Touché, brother mine."

"I'm glad to see not even an attack by Voldemort himself can dampen your spirits," Ginny commented, and he thought he detected a hint of warning in her tone. Levity was all well and good, but the current situation was not one to treat so lightly.

"So that was _him_ then?" Fred asked, all traces of humour gone.

"I reckon you two fared all right against him," George added, a hesitantly hopeful note to his voice.

"He was _playing_ with us," Ginny spat.

Fred, George, and Angelina all turned to Harry, and he nodded seriously. Their expressions all soured.

"Let's go see if anyone needs any immediate help," Harry stated into the sudden sombre silence. "Then we can see about getting this place fixed up."

OoOoO

By the time they finished up at Diagon Alley, picked Neville up, and returned home, Harry was about ready to drop. His fight with Voldemort, particularly that last spell, had really taken a lot out of him. After helping the wounded, cleaning up, and restoring the twins' shop, he had nothing left. He barely kicked his shoes off before collapsing into bed.

When he awoke Harry found a pair of brown eyes only inches away from his face. "Morning," Ginny greeted him with a dazzling smile.

"Mmm. Morning," Harry answered, his voice gruff and groggy from sleep.

As he began to take stock of himself, he realized that he was wearing nothing but his boxers. Glancing down, he found Ginny in a t-shirt – one of his t-shirts. Not that he minded one bit.

"You undressed me," he stated as much to himself as to her.

"Well, you were pretty much dead to the world as soon as you collapsed on the bed, and I figured you'd be more comfortable this way," she replied, running her fingers through his hair.

"You didn't have your wicked way with me, did you?" he asked, mock-defensively. "Because if you plan to sully my honour, I'd like to at least be conscious to properly enjoy the experience."

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, you caught me. Or at least I tried. Seems Little Harry was as dead to the world as Big Harry."

"Well he's as awake as 'Big Harry' now," he answered with a waggle of his eyebrows.

She slapped him lightly on the arm. "You know, as reluctant as you were the first few times, you're sure getting pretty bold nowadays." Her exasperated tone did not match her eyes. She hesitated a moment, and Harry grew hopeful. "But if we start that now, we may never get out of bed, and _you've_ already slept in very late."

Harry frowned grumpily. "What time is it?"

"11:00."

"Damn."

"And as I recall you have a meeting with Dumbledore today," she added, and Harry nodded, having suddenly remembered the same.

He let loose a long-suffering sigh, eliciting a snort of laughter from Ginny. He sat up and looked at her, waiting for her to stop laughing before asking, "Are you coming with?"

She frowned and worried her bottom lip between her teeth. "I guess I probably should. It's just every time I see him, I still remember him trying to break into my mind, and it makes me so angry all over again."

She huffed and turned away, her hands tightening at her sides. Harry rose and walked to her, wrapping his arms around her. "It's all right if you're not ready," he whispered into her hair.

"No, it's not," she stated defiantly, spinning around in his embrace. "I'm in this every bit as much as you. The last thing I need is to give anyone any reasons to treat me like a child."

"You're probably right," he agreed.

"Of course I'm right."

By the time the two of them had showered and dressed, they had time for only a quick bite to eat before leaving for their meeting. Apparating to the gate of the school, they set off down the path. After a few minutes, Harry caught sight of Hagrid just inside the tree-line of the Forbidden Forest.

"Hagrid!" he called out, waving over his head as the half-giant looked in their direction.

"'Arry! Ginny!" Hagrid called back, trotting in their direction. "Good ter see you two!"

"You too, Hagrid," Ginny agreed.

"How's your summer?" Harry asked.

"Been ah-right. Two of you gave us a bit of a scare fer a bit, dis'pearin' the way you did," the half-giant replied, a hint of reproach in his tone.

Harry shrugged. "Guess I just needed to strike out on my own for once."

"Aye, ev'ry-un goes through it, I s'pose. Part of growin' up," Hagrid agreed. "Bu' tha' don' mean yeh gotta leave ev'ry-un in the dark 'bout it either."

Harry gave a sheepish shrug as he replied, "Given my rather _unique_ circumstances, no amount of asking would have gotten me anywhere. I needed to prove I could not only keep myself safe from Voldemort but also hidden from Dumbledore and the Order as well. If I couldn't do that, then I probably wouldn't have been ready to be on my own anyway."

"True 'nuff. True 'nuff," Hagrid stated. "And hidin' from Dumbledore's no easy trick either. Jus' so long as yeh don' forgeh who yer friends 'nd enemies are." He paused for a moment before taking a deep breath and adding, "Well, I've got work ter be done. Don't be strangers now, 'ere?"

"You got it, Hagrid," Harry said.

"Bye Hagrid," Ginny added.

"G'bye 'Arry, Ginny. You take care of 'im for me, eh?" he added to the latter.

"Of course," Ginny replied with a wide grin. "Someone has to."

The half-giant bounded back to the forest with a booming chuckle.

As they ascended the steps rising up to the main entrance, the massive doors opened for them. As they strode into the entrance hall, they came face to face with their head of house.

"Minerva," Harry greeted with a smile.

"Professor," Ginny added.

"Harry, Miss Weasley. I trust you two are well?"

"Still a little tired from yesterday," Harry said with a casual shrug of his shoulders.

"Yes, quite an eventful day," McGonagall agreed as they began to walk towards the staircases. "How is Mr. Longbottom doing?"

"He's holding up," Harry answered. "As well as can be expected, really."

After a brief silence, Ginny spoke up. "Are you going to be joining us, Professor?"

"If that is all right with the two of you?" she queried, to which they both nodded. "Someone has to ensure Albus does not continue his rather impressive streak of colossal mistakes in his treatment of you two."

"Have you talked with him about us?" Harry questioned.

"Yes, several times since the letter you sent and several more since his reply and several more since yesterday," she replied with only the slightest bit of exasperation leaking into her tone. "Needless to say he is quite anxious to speak with you both."

Harry frowned. "I can't decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing."

Ginny shrugged. "It's hardly surprising. He's been desperate to find you ever since you left."

"Then it may surprise you that he is nearly as anxious about speaking to you as to Harry," Minerva added.

Ginny shot the professor a confused glance before frowning and turning her head down in contemplation.

They made the rest of the trip in silence until they reached the gargoyle guarding the entrance to Dumbledore's office. "Saltwater taffy," the deputy headmistress spoke, causing the stone sentinel to spring aside. Harry shook his head at the headmaster's quirky passwords as they rode the rising spiral stairs to the top.

"Come in," Dumbledore's voice called through the door. Harry followed Minerva into the office which showed no signs of the abuse the room suffered during his last visit.

"Harry, Ginny," he greeted each in turn. "Thank you for coming. I know my recent transgressions against the both of you have given you little reason to trust me, so I thank you for giving me this opportunity to begin on the road to making amends." He paused briefly, and Harry met the headmaster's gaze squarely before the wizened wizard turned his eyes to Ginny. After another moment of silence, he swept his hand towards the chairs in front of his desk, saying, "Please, make yourselves comfortable."

After they had seated themselves, Dumbledore spoke again, "I would like to start by apologizing to the both of you. My actions against you both were appalling. Harry, I had neither right nor even a valid reason to assault you. While my intent was merely to quickly subdue you before any drastic actions were taken, I see now that my own actions were rather drastic themselves. As your headmaster, casting any offensive spell at you is an appalling transgression, one that I will never repeat."

He held Harry's gaze for a long moment before turning his attention to Ginny. "Miss Weasley. As horrible as my actions towards Harry were in this school, what I attempted to do to you in your own home far outstrips them. The mind magics are a delicate and dangerous art, and any abuse of them is not to be taken lightly. My actions were inexcusable regardless of my intentions, and for that you have my sincerest apology."

A heavy silence followed filled only with the deep breath released by the headmaster following his apologies. With his head down, he appeared to collect himself for a moment before looking up at his guests. "If I might begin with a question that has been niggling at my brain all summer?" Harry nodded. "I'll not ask where you learned to make Portkeys as, while their creation is restricted by the Ministry, the method of their creation is no great secret. But I must know, how do you keep track of when and where each Portkey is activated?"

Harry amusedly noted the eagerness in the headmaster's voice as he sat at attention awaiting his response. "You're familiar with the Marauder's Map?" he queried.

Dumbledore nodded. "A most excellent bit of magic – I daresay the Marauders' crowning achievement."

Harry smiled. "I couldn't agree more. Over the school year, I studied the map and recreated it, even added additional features to it. It was the map that gave me the idea. I tied the Portkeys into a map of Great Britain. The name on each Portkey was locked in as soon as each student first touched theirs which seemed to be the largest hurdle in applying the Marauder's Map to a larger scale. At the start of summer, I scouted out the locations of each Portkey on the map so that if and when the time came, I would know where to go. When a Portkey is activated, an alarm goes off on the map, and I tied my necklace into the alarm using a derivation of the Protean Charm so I'll know as soon as it goes off even when I'm out."

"Marvellous," Dumbledore commented. "Might I have a look at this map of yours? Several members of the Order have been quite vocal in their desire to adopt your methods. I've just recently been convinced to supply all members with emergency Portkeys, but we were unaware of how exactly you were tracking their use."

"I'll make you a copy," Harry stated, "and show you how to add new Portkeys."

"You have my gratitude and that of the entire Order," Dumbledore softly intoned. He paused a moment, seeming to build himself up to something, before continuing, "While we are on the subject of the Order, a meeting was held last night following the attack on Diagon Alley. You were one of the main topics of discussion of the meeting, and, after consulting the other members, I would like to take this opportunity to offer you – the both of you – membership into the Order of the Phoenix."

Harry stared at the headmaster a moment and deliberately blinked his eyes. "Umm, thank you sir, but no thanks," he said into the silence.

Ginny nodded, adding, "I'm with Harry."

Dumbledore appeared gobsmacked. "Surely you don't mean…"

"With all due respect, Headmaster," Harry cut in, "you don't exactly have the best track record when it comes to your dealings with either one of us. Do you honestly think we intend to join up with an organization _you_ run so that you can go back to trying to keep us in the dark and out of the war?"

Harry had never seen the headmaster so perplexed. "I'm afraid you have me at a loss. In your letter you explicitly stated that we need to be united to win this war. That is a sentiment I share whole-heartedly, which is why I do not understand..."

"I said we needed to work together," Harry corrected. "And I meant it. I'd like to work _with_ the Order, pool our resources, share information. But I will not put myself in a position where you or anyone else can decide what my role in this war will be."

"I see," Dumbledore stated. "This changes things."

"And while we're on the subject," Harry added, waiting for Dumbledore to nod before continuing, "I've been training Fred and George as well as Lee Jordan, Katie Bell, and Angelina Johnson. And now Neville is joining in as well. They're not battle-ready yet, but I would reserve the right to include them in any meetings we attend and, when I deem them ready, battles."

"Do you believe yourself ready for that responsibility?" Dumbledore asked and held up a hand when Harry moved to respond. "Please, think about it for a moment. I can respect that you want to help your friends train and that they may wish to involve themselves in the war, but are you personally ready for the consequences should harm befall any of them? Leading soldiers into battle is difficult enough, but when those soldiers are your friends... It is not a fate I would wish upon you."

"To be honest, it terrifies me," Harry admitted. "That my decisions could cost them their lives. I have no idea what I would do with myself, but I can't refuse them. I've been in their shoes. I've been pushed to the side, told to be a good boy and let the adults handle it. I've seen where that leads. If they are determined to fight in the war, they will do so with or without my help. I would much rather teach them all I can and be in a position to stop them from going into battle until they are more capable of helping and, more importantly, surviving."

"Perhaps you could reach a compromise," Minerva interjected. Harry turned to her, his eyebrow lifted in question. "Harry has proven himself to be an excellent instructor. Allow him to train his own people, but before they participate in battle, have them participate in mock-duels against members of the Order to determine their levels of ability."

Harry shared a quick smile with Ginny whom he had forced to duel both Tonks and Remus before he was willing to take her into battle.

"A wonderful suggestion, Professor McGonagall," Dumbledore praised before turning his attention to Harry. "What say you, Harry?"

"I agree," Harry said. "In fact, I think it would be beneficial if we could occasionally borrow different Order members to practice against. It always helps to get different people with different skill sets, so they can learn to adapt to different styles of duelling."

The headmaster's tense posture seemed to relax at his agreement, and some of the light returned to his usually bright-eyed gaze as he responded, "Excellent. Am I correct in assuming you would like to continue their training into the school year?"

Harry nodded.

"Would you like to include them in your existing classes, or will you be needing to make additional time for them?" Dumbledore queried. "I fear any additions could have a detrimental effect on your studies as your schedule was already full as it was last year."

"Actually," Harry stated, glancing briefly to Ginny, "that's another thing I wanted to talk to you about. I don't really think the standard Hogwarts curriculum has anything left to offer us."

For the second time in as many minutes, Dumbledore's face froze into an expression of abject surprise and confusion. Professor McGonagall, meanwhile, leaned forward in her chair and exclaimed, "You can't mean to drop out of Hogwarts!"

"I - we - would still like to stay in the castle over the term," Harry added into the silence. "And I want to continue teaching, both my students from last year as well as several sessions a week with Fred and George and the others. But to be honest, I did not get much of anything out of classes last year and don't think they will be any more beneficial to me this year. Ginny's not quite at my level, but she's beyond where I was when I started the term last year. The way we use magic is just too different from the rest of the students for classes to offer us anything. Using a wand and incantation can help us in learning new spells, but magic for us is much more instinctive and... I really don't have the words for it. Using a wand becomes a hindrance for spells I'm familiar with. I have to consciously try to channel my magic through the wand rather than just channelling the spell on my own. And learning new spells is a completely different experience. We can feel our magic reacting, feel when it begins to struggle with a new spell. It makes learning new spells so much more intuitive."

"I see," the headmaster replied in a distant tone. "It is not unprecedented for a student to take certain NEWT examinations early over the summer. Typically it is only a single class that the student is far ahead in and wishes to remove it from his or her course-load." He paused and surveyed the two of them. "Do you feel you would be able to pass your NEWT examinations at this time?"

Harry frowned. "If given a list of topics covered on the exams, I think I could probably be ready by the end of summer," he finally stated.

"And what of Miss Weasley?" Dumbledore queried.

Harry turned to Ginny. She met his gaze and shrugged. "You'd probably know better than I would," she told him.

"She could probably be ready for the spell-centric courses: Defence, Transfiguration, and Charms," Harry finally decided. "She'll need to cram the theory heavily this summer, but she could probably ace the practicals with only a week of preparation."

"You do realize, Harry, that if you are no longer taking courses, you will need to move out of the dorms and will not be eligible to play Quidditch," Minerva inserted.

Harry turned to her. "As much as I love Quidditch, there are too many other more important things going on right now. Missing Quidditch is the least of my concerns. As for the dorms," he turned his attention back to the headmaster, "I was rather hoping I could take you up on your offer from last year of my own quarters."

"And I was hoping I could join him," Ginny added with a small smirk.

Minerva deliberately cleared her throat at that but kept silent at a look from the headmaster. "Again, it is not unheard of for two students to share quarters. It has been done in the past with two students who are of age and married. You, however, are not married, and Miss Weasley is not of age. I'm afraid there is nothing I can do to help you. Miss Weasley will still be taking courses, and as such will remain a student."

"You could make her another assistant professor," Harry interjected. "Give us both our own quarters."

"So that you may ignore them and sleep together?" Minerva questioned. "I am not at all comfortable endorsing such behaviour, and I guarantee Molly Weasley will share the sentiment."

"It's not what you think," Harry stated. At their unconvinced looks he added, "Well, there is that too, but it's much more than that. I don't think I can actually sleep without Ginny."

"What do you mean you cannot sleep without her?" Minerva demanded.

"I had a lot of trouble sleeping last term. I rarely made it through a full night of sleep without being interrupted by a vision from Voldemort. I made a habit of taking naps in my office with Ginny. She would read or do her homework, and I'd rest my head in her lap while I slept. It was the only time I slept soundly. Things got worse this summer. I was barely sleeping at all, and it was beginning to take its toll. I even snuck into the Burrow one night to sleep with Ginny. But ever since she came to live with me, I haven't had a single vision. I've slept soundly every single night."

Harry shared a brief smile with Ginny and reached out for her hand. Intertwining their fingers, he turned his attention back to the headmaster. "When you told me the prophecy, you said that the power I have that Voldemort 'knows not' is love. I thought you were crazy at first, but now I think I'm starting to believe. In Diagon Alley yesterday, my scar flared up in pain as usual whenever Voldemort is near, but the closer Ginny was to me, the less my scar hurt." He paused and shared a lingering glance with Ginny. He had briefly mentioned the occurrence to her yesterday, but with all that had been going on they had not had a chance to sit down and talk about it. He shook himself out of his reverie and refocused on the headmaster as he continued, "When she touched me, even just as simple as this," he held up their joined hands, "the pain vanished completely. I don't know how, but Ginny shields me from him, from my connection to him."

For the first time during their meeting, the customary twinkle in the headmaster's eyes returned in full force. "This is most certainly heartening news; however, I fear it is not as simple as you would like to believe. All assistant professors must be approved by the Board of Governors, and your appointment last year was difficult enough to manage. It was only Professor Caldwell's request for an assistant that gave me the additional leverage needed to make it a reality. With you intending to continue your role, I'm afraid there is no pressing need for another assistant and therefore no reason for the Board of Governors to approve Miss Weasley's appointment."

"Isn't there any way to justify having her own rooms without being an assistant professor?" Harry queried.

A heavy silence fell over the room for a long moment as all occupants were lost in their own thoughts.

"What about independent study?" Ginny suddenly posed into the silence. Harry and the two professors turned their attention to her as she continued. "We were hoping to convince a few professors to give us private lessons, and even though I won't be taking all my NEWTs this summer, I think my time might be better served putting those other courses on hold and concentrating on more important things. Has there ever been a graduate who returned to school to study privately?"

The two professors shared a pointed look before the headmaster returned his attention and responded, "As a matter of fact, yes, there is a precedent for such situations, and those students were considered separate from the house system and were given private quarters. If you are certain about this decision, and assuming you do receive passing NEWT results in at least three courses this summer, I perceive no problems with granting your request. You will, however, require parental permission due to your status as a minor."

Harry shared a look with Ginny, glad that they had already made some strides towards reconciliation with her parents. Their upcoming dinner at the Burrow would serve as a prime opportunity for Ginny to broach the topic. He could only hope that her parents would be agreeable towards the request, though he would be sure not to mention the underlying reason for Ginny needing her own quarters.

The headmaster cleared his throat, and, after Harry had returned his attention to the man, he added, "Appearances must be kept, of course. Officially, the two of you will have separate quarters. Discretion will also be required. However, if I am not mistaken, I believe there are two adjacent guest quarters on the sixth floor which contain a hidden passage connecting them."

"We will expect the two of you to be _responsible_," Minerva inserted pointedly. It was clear from her expression that she was still not entirely comfortable with the situation. "And if word gets out to the student body of your situation, these privileges can and will be revoked."

Harry nodded his head. It was not as though he would be bragging about it in the corridors.

"Then it is settled," the headmaster stated.

OoOoO

If Harry and Ginny thought their summers had been busy already, they were in for a rude awakening. Revising for NEWTs on top of all their other training left little to no time for leisure.

It was several days before Ginny finally sat down to write her parents about having supper at the Burrow. She suggested they have the supper on her birthday which was less than a week away. She knew it would mean a lot to her parents to celebrate with the whole family. While part of her just wanted to spend the day alone with Harry, she also missed her family and genuinely wanted to see everyone again. She just hoped they were ready to accept her living situation with Harry; otherwise, it would not be a pleasant evening.

It felt like she barely blinked before the day arrived. She woke up to the smell of breakfast as Harry walked into the room with a tray full of all her favourites. It was only after she was halfway through the meal that she noticed she had overslept. When she questioned Harry about it, he explained, "I thought I'd let you sleep in on your birthday. In fact, I insist that you take the whole day off. We can just relax and do whatever you'd like with the afternoon before heading to the Burrow this evening."

She was hardly going to complain at that. Truth be told, they both really needed the day off, though Harry confessed that he did go through his usual morning ritual before showering and cooking her breakfast. Still, it was nice just to be _normal_ for a little while, without worrying about training and fighting and Death Eaters and Voldemort.

OoOoO

It was with a fair bit of trepidation that Harry and Ginny Apparated into the yard of the Burrow. The house looked as it always did, strange and lopsided and seemingly standing due only to the magic holding it all together. And yet, for all that the building remained the same, the feel of the place had changed completely. Since Harry first arrived in Mr. Weasley's flying Ford Anglia during the summer after first year, the Burrow had always been a place of wonder. It was filled with some of the most odd and downright whimsical things he had ever seen in his life, but more than that, the home had always been full of family and love.

The events of the summer had tarnished those feelings. The Burrow had always been somewhat of an ideal to him, a window into what his life could have been like had Voldemort never killed his parents. It had filled him with a pang of heartache accompanied by a sense of wonder that, while he may not have been given the chance to grow up with his parents or with brothers and sisters, he _was_ a part of a family. They did not share blood or even a name, but never had he ever felt like an outsider at the Burrow.

Until this summer.

As they approached the back door, Harry shook these thoughts from his head. What happened earlier this summer was terrible, but it was also in the past. This visit was meant to be about putting all that behind them. Dwelling about it now would certainly be no help in that.

As they reached the door, Harry shared a lingering, uncomfortable glance with Ginny. Here they were standing outside the door to her home - his surrogate home - and they were unsure how to proceed. Should they knock or just let themselves in?

Shrugging his shoulders, Harry lifted his hand and rapped his knuckles against the solid wood door. Not two seconds later the door was flung open, and in the frame of the doorway stood the force of nature known as Molly Weasley. Her eyes lit up upon seeing them and she descended upon them, grabbing each in one arm and pressing them into a tight three-way hug.

"You never need to knock at this house," she said to them, kissing the top of her head and his cheek. "Both of you. This is your home, and it always will be, no matter how much time may pass or how far away life takes you. This door is always open to you."

And with a statement as simple as that, all those feelings that had been startlingly vacant upon their arrival began creeping back in. There was still some awkwardness as the greetings went around. Bill and Charlie, particularly, were less than warm when addressing Harry, though he could certainly see where they were coming from. Had he a younger sister who had run off to live with her boyfriend, Harry could not say he would be entirely friendly to the bloke either.

Conversation was not entirely natural and flowing. The big erumpent in the room was being carefully avoided by all parties, though some were better at ignoring its existence than others. Every time someone - usually her mother, Bill, or Charlie - would encroach on the subject only to suddenly, awkwardly change gears, he could see Ginny repressing the urge to act - whether to yell or curse he could not say. But with the twins, Arthur, and surprisingly Ron all doing their best to keep conversation moving along, those awkward moments were easily forgotten. For his part, Harry tried not to let any of it get to him. It was past time that the Weasleys were reunited, and he was certainly not going to do anything to get in the way.

Harry was still unsure what to make of the new Ron, but what he had seen so far certainly seemed a vast improvement. There was no jealousy or irritation - expressed or repressed - from what he could tell. Ron, for once, seemed to be at peace with himself and his life. For the first time, Harry began to see some of his father's calm, affable nature emerge in him. He knew not exactly what brought about the change, but Harry began to hope that just maybe he would not end up losing the first friendship he had ever made.

Ginny asked to speak with her parents alone after supper, and Harry helped herd her brothers out into the backyard to enjoy what little sunshine remained in the day while she explained her plans to take three of her NEWTs this summer and sought permission to drop the rest of her courses to study independently. When she came out into the backyard several minutes later with a large smile on her face, Harry knew the conversation had gone well and could not help but smile widely in return.

OoOoO

Harry relaxed into his chair as Ron stared down at the chess board contemplating his next move. He watched Ginny as she laughed at something Charlie had said. He knew she had been worried about how the night would go, and while everything was not sunshine and roses, he was immeasurably pleased to see her like this, at ease with her family.

His reverie was interrupted when Ron said, "I'm glad, you know."

Harry shifted his attention from Ginny to Ron. "Huh?"

"You and Ginny," he explained. "I know I was a bit of a prat about it at first, but I'm glad you're there for her. And she for you. You guys are good for each other."

Harry could not help but catch the wistful tone in his voice. "I heard that things didn't work out between you and Hermione," he stated, wondering whether or not it was wise to bring up the subject. It was odd to think that they had not spoken of it. He had not even known about it until Ginny told him during the summer, though even she was unsure of the cause of their split.

Ron met his gaze for a long moment before shrugging his shoulders. "Your move," he pointed out, inclining his head towards the board where he saw that one of his bishops had been taken. Harry decided to take the hint and drop the subject as he focused on his next move and was therefore surprised when Ron spoke. "I don't think we ever would have worked."

There was no hint of sadness in his tone, just a frankness that Harry rarely heard from his friend. His curiosity nearly led him to asking Ron why he thought that, but in the end he held his tongue and picked up his other bishop and took one of Ron's rooks.

He immediately dropped his head into his hands, shaking it back and forth as his bishop fell to a pawn he had somehow overlooked. Ron smirked. "I think it was the fact that she seemed so unattainable," he stated matter-of-factly. "I think a lot of my problems stem from that. I always want what I can't have - or think I can't have, at any rate. I look at what others have, and I decide I want it. I didn't even really start to like Hermione that way until she went out with Krum. I just get so focused on what I don't have, that I lose sight of what's right in front of my face."

At that, he cast his gaze around the room, taking in his family. He turned back to Harry with a sober look on his face. "You're a good friend, Harry. More than that. You're family, my brother. I'm sorry that I've lost sight of that at times."

The chess board lay forgotten as Harry regarded the gangly redhead sitting across him. "I'm sorry too," he said thickly. "I'm sorry for keeping everything from you over the past year. I wanted so badly to tell you..."

"You don't need to do that," Ron interrupted with a wave of his hand. "You could have told me, yes, but I wasn't ready then. I don't know how I would have handled it all, but I know now that I wasn't ready. I think had I known the full extent of what you could do, how much you had accomplished - no matter how hard you had to work for it - I just would have seen one more thing someone else had that I didn't. I realize now that I'm the lucky one. You've told me before, but it never really registered until recently. I was born to all of this." He waved his hand around the room. "I've had this all my life. You haven't. You didn't have any of this for a long time. But you do now. And if that girl you can't seem to tear your eyes away from for more than two minutes has anything to say about it, I imagine you'll never have to live without this again."

Harry's eyes snapped back from where they had briefly wandered of their own accord back to Ginny and could not help the smile that stretched across his face. He stood up and clasped Ron on the shoulder and looked him in the eye as he stated, "You _are_ a good friend, Ron. Never doubt that."

A moment of silence passed as Harry let go of Ron's shoulder and turned his attention back to Ginny. "Whoa there, Romeo. Don't think you're getting out of this so easily; we've got a game to finish."

Harry glanced back to the forgotten chess board and heaved a sigh as he retook his seat. This should not take long. Chess had never been his strong suit, least of all when a stunning distraction lay mere meters away. Shaking his head, he refocused on the game board and proceeded to get his arse kicked.

_**AN:**__So there you finally have it. I could try to give a myriad of reasons as to why it's taken so long to get this chapter finished and posted, but any time you take more than a year to update, it's inevitably more than just the usual 'real life' circumstances interfering with writing. I'd be lying if I said I haven't lost a lot of my passion for the story. That's not to say I don't still get enjoyment out of writing it, but it takes much more for me to really get into the process, and it's not something constantly on my mind as it was when I was still writing TC._

_So with that in mind, I certainly can't make any promises that you won't see long waits like this in the future. I'll certainly try to complete the chapters much more quickly, but writing is a difficult process to force, and the results are rarely as good that way. All that said, what I can promise you is that the story will not ever be abandoned. I do have some big plans for it, and I will write them. I hope you'll all stick with me._

_Thank you, as always, for reading, and thank you, again, for your continued support._

_-Matt / fake a smile_


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